Let's Go Adventuring, Okay?
by DQueenie13
Summary: Log Horizon AU. In a world of swords and magic, Landers and Adventurers coexist with each other and rule the lands. Adventurers are trained to fight and use skills at nearby Academies. Shiroe is an Enchanter, constantly mocked at his Academy for his weak attack power. One day, he stumbles upon a lost girl named Kanami …
1. Chapter 1: A Boy, A Girl

Shiroe walked against the flow of traffic in the long corridors of the Academy, staring down at the worn, cracked floors. The buildings - all of them - were relics of an ancient past, known as the "Age of the Gods." He knew all of the history behind them. He had read all the books, memorized their pages. The memories of their distinct smells and sounds were not distant from his mind.

After all, they were his only friends.

It was probably because of his Enchanter class. In this world, there were twelve different "Classes," which pretty much were an Adventurer's fighting specialty; usually, one's Class was chosen by one's parents during birth. The Enchanter class belonged to the Mage-type classes, which focused on casting magical spells; and of the three Mage-type classes, his had the least amount of power or defense. They had low HP as well, so many people didn't want to be teamed up with someone like him. Although he had protested that his skills would be useful in a team, most people just laughed at that notion and ignored his words.

Shiroe was fast approaching his fifteenth birthday. By the week after your fifteenth birthday, you were expected to have found a team to work with - if not a guild already - and be on your way out of the Academy. In all honesty, Shiroe expected himself to have been out of the Academy at least a year ago. He was a naturally fast learner and the amount he had learned here had exceeded the amount knowledge that most other students picked up by around threefold. Staying with those books all the time was probably one of the reasons why.

He wasn't on a team because of this burdensome Enchanter class of his. Most people in this Academy were something more … useful, like a Guardian or an Assassin or a Cleric. In fact, even among the staff, there were only three or so Enchanters out of over two hundred personnel. Of all his years here, Shiroe had only met one of them.

His parents, for who-knew-what-reason, picked this class for him, as was standard of all families. They went on an adventuring trip around three years later, and never returned. Although he never knew why, Shiroe always suspected that they had abandoned him - after all, Adventurers like them were immortal, always resurrecting at designated revival points.

For this reason, Shiroe wasn't really afraid of wandering outside the safe zone of the Academy into the forest below, although he knew that he was most likely going to end up back in the Academy's Cathedral, with mocking voices surrounding him, like it usually was. The thought of it alone made him feel dejected, but he was less likely to get harassed by other students and would have time to formulate battle strategies when he was outside. Battle strategies that he'd never get to use, because he'd never find a party to team up with. His Half-Alv race only made things worse, since time had not worn away the fear some of the other races had of the Alvs. The Alvs themselves had been practically hunted to extinction through warfare, but some of their magical technology still remained. To this day, Half-Alvs themselves were rare, and were almost universally discriminated against, with some pockets of refuge created either by other Half-Alvs or by those who really couldn't care less.

_Well, if worst comes to worst, I could always join a Production Guild, right?_ Shiroe thought, downcast by his bad luck. _But really, I want to experience battles first-hand, not just in dusty old books hidden in the alcoves of the Academy Libraries …_

It was dark outside, so Shiroe summoned a Magic Light to accompany him. Scratch the earlier part about books being his only friends, Magic Lights served that role, too. These small magical creatures, for some reason, seemed to have some sentience. They could change their color, their expressions, and move their spherical bodies around as if they reflected or responded to their caster's emotions. In a sad sort of way, they were the only things that sympathized with him. Even the Enchanter teacher wasn't sympathetic to his plight; after all, she had simply joined a craftsmanship guild and tailored all day. She didn't understand his need to explore and learn. Then again, nobody else did, since they just said, "You should've had a better class."

As if he could change that.

Feeling like he had been bitter enough for the day, Shiroe sat down by a small brook, where the steady rushing of water allowed him to think clearly. However, he had only started reviewing his notes when he heard the soft crackling and crunching of branches and twigs behind him.

Monsters.

As he was taught in the Academy, Shiroe instantly pulled out his staff from his inventory, equipping it in preparation for the attack. From the sounds, there were multiple opponents, but they were small and low-leveled. However, even at his significantly higher level, it would still take an Enchanter a while to defeat them. It really was a class designed for parties, but nobody considered it useful for anything.

"Nightmare Sphere!" A purple ball of light shot from Shiroe's hand, blasting into the Briar Weasels in front of him. The first step of his plan was to reduce their movement speed, which would provide him with more time to attack.

"Mind Shock!" Step two: deal more wide-area attacks so that he had less HP to pick off with single-target spells. Mind Shock was a skill that had a relatively long cooldown, though, so he had to be cautious with this one. There were only around four of them, though, so hopefully he could deal with them worse for wear.

Now, it was time to start picking them off, hoping that the debuff would last long enough to slow them down and the cooldowns of his skills would count down fast enough. "Pulse Bullet!" As expected, it wasn't particularly effective, but it was something. Out of the corner of his eye, then, he noticed one of the Weasels recovering from the debuff and heading his way at full speed. Not good.

As it closed in on him, Shiroe panicked slightly. "Brain Vice!" It was one of the Enchanter's strongest spells. It succeeded in killing to Weasel, after all. It also succeeded in drawing in a lot of Hate towards him. Hate determined how much attention from enemies you would attract. Those with higher amounts of Hate would have more attacks focused on them. At this moment, Shiroe was the only one around with a high amount of Hate, which meant that surrounding enemies would be attracted to him in the bad kind of way.

At least a dozen more Briar Weasels popped out of the bushes, snarling at him wickedly. Well, this sure will be a story to tell when I revive at the Cathedral, Shiroe thought sarcastically to himself. He couldn't use his Speed buffs on himself, too, so he was a sitting duck.

Just as resolved to resign himself to his fate, a loud rustling noise was heard behind him as a figure rushed in front of him. A feminine voice cried out "Whirlwind!", knocking back the Briar Weasels around them. "Woohoo! Now that's what ya'd call a pinch, isn't it?" A young lady around his age, donning a white martial arts-like outfit with white trim and a paddy hat, stood in front of him. Her attack had succeeded in drawing aggro away from him and towards herself, but the Briar Weasels were still there.

"Um, they're still coming-"

"Then we beat them, duh!" Before Shiroe could add his input, she dashed towards the monsters, drawing her twin swords, a signature move of Swashbucklers. Thinking quickly, Shiroe thought of their strengths and weaknesses. One of the three Weapon-based Classes, Swashbucklers specialized in using dual swords, and had the most HP and DEF among them. Although they dealt less damage per hit than Assassins, they made up for it with their combos and debuffs. Against large groups, they had a large number of counters that made Swashbucklers an ideal class against mobs.

"Haste!" The girl glowed with an aura from his spell that increased her action speed, allowing her to attack faster. As the Briar Weasels charged towards her, Shiroe didn't want to waste this moment. "Astral Bind!" His spell created thorns that wound around the monsters, binding them in place and leaving them defenseless to the girl's attack.

"Ha ha, that's what I'm talking about!" She suddenly became a blur, dashing straight in front of her targets. "End of Act!" Although her swords didn't actually touch any of her targets, the slashes created a wide attack that hit all of them, dealing Instant Death to them. They were lucky that the Briar Weasels were only level 24, because a larger level gap between her and them meant that she had a higher chance of instantly killing them with End of Act.

"Now, that was a good one, wasn't it?" The beautiful girl standing before Shiroe asked with a jovial laugh as she turned her head to look at him. "I don't usually see Enchanters walking out alone, but then again, I don't think you usually see lost Swashbucklers in - where are we?"

"U-uh, this is the Academy of Urumiya," was all Shiroe could stammer out. Quickly, he looked at the girl's status screen. Kanami, Female, Human, level 68 Swashbuckler, no guild. From her question, she probably wasn't around the area, and he didn't recognize her anyways.

"Hmm … Urumiya, huh … well, I've got no clue where that is!" Despite admitting that she was wholly lost, she didn't seem perturbed in the slightest. "After all, that's the fun in adventuring, right? It doesn't matter if someone's been here before or discovered it already, since as long as it makes you happy, it's okay, right? Hey, hey, what party are you in?"

In front of this talkative, willful person, Shiroe was at a loss for words. Most girls around his age just avoided him, saying things like "He's a good-for-nothing shut-in," "All he knows is junk information," "He's such a loner," and such idle talk. It was the first time any female figure had talked to him in such a carefree and relaxed way, so he was in a bit of shock.

"Hey hey, now, don't become a clam! You're in a guild, right? Lemme see … Shiroe … Half-Alv Enchanter … level 43. So you're around fifteen right, about to make your way in the world! Say, you didn't tell me what your party is!"

"Well … I don't really … have one, you see." Shiroe, wondering how she didn't notice that he wasn't in any guild based off of his profile, hesitated to talk more, thinking that this intriguing lady would turn away in disgust over his lack of any friends or even partners.

Instead of rejecting him, though, she looked somewhat enthused over that fact. "As in nobody's tried _recruiting_ you?!" She must not have gotten the notice that Enchanters weren't the most exactly … well-liked class out there.

"Um … of course … not?"

Kanami eyed him suspiciously. "You know the strengths of your class, right? Party play? The kind where you don't do things all on your own?"

"Yes, but even when I tell them, they just laugh at me and say that I'm worthless."

"Then why haven't you left?"

That was unthinkable. If she knew his class' strengths (which was a rare sight in and of itself), then she definitely should know its weaknesses. He wouldn't be able to brave the open world by himself, and there was no guarantee that any group he met would be a benevolent one. Thieves and bandits, along with monsters, prowled the areas outside of safe zones. He - and any fresh graduate of the Academy, really - was easy pickings for them, which was why they were required to form parties or join a Production guild.

"Well, it's just-"

She leaned in uncomfortably close to him, bending her taller stature so that she was staring down at him in his eyes. "You were gonna say that it's just too much of a bother, huh? Well, lemme tell you somethin'," she scoffed, backing off and turning her head towards the starlit sky, "You're never gonna get anywhere with that sorta attitude."

Shiroe had no words because it was true. He would never attempt to leave this place without a group because he had deemed it impossible. It was what the books said. His class was not suited for such exploration. All the experiences he had gathered in his fifteen years of life pointed to that fact as well, along with the reactions from others. From the age of ten, he had already decided that the probability that he would find a party to join was a mere 6%. Contrived, perhaps, but it was really what he felt. As a result, he barely even tried entering a party or finding someone else to journey with.

"We're Adventurers, aren't we?" Kanami's question brought him out of his thoughts. "We're not like the Landers, who cultivate and stay in one place to make villages and raise livestock. There's a common dream that's within us, and that's to have fun exploring, isn't it?"

The rustling leaves and shouting voices were drowned out of Shiroe's mind while listening to her. He became aware of it when they grew closer, as did she, and they both turned towards the source of the noise.

"Oi, Naotsuguuuu~! 'S'that you?" She called out carelessly again. Shiroe hoped nobody else was around, because if anyone from the Academy saw him with a girl, they'd immediately start making assumptions.

"Kanami, stop wandering off on your own! Trying to find you whenever you get lost is an annoying festival!" A gray-haired Guardian, who seemed to be the Naotsugu she had called out to, pushed a low-hanging branch out of his way with a look of annoyance. Upon spotting Shiroe, his expression changed to that of interest. "Hm? Who's this here? Were you on another recruiting festival?"

"Recruiting …? Nah, I just figured I could ask him where I was, and he was in a pinch, so I decided it'd be fine to ask. Figures, I have no clue where we are!" Shiroe felt remarkably overjoyed that Kanami decided that she could just use him for information. "Besides," she continued, "He's an Enchanter! If he joins us, RamMutton'll feel less lonely!"

Naotsugu eyed Kanami warily. "Did you ask him if he's part of a party, first?" Shiroe felt relieved that he, at least, was thinking normally. "Oh! And does he know any cute girls? We can bond over a panties festival!"

Scratch that, this man didn't think normally at all.

"U-um, I can speak for myself, first." Shiroe tried speaking up, but his voice faltered and he stammered his words. However, Naotsugu and Kanami (somehow) heard him, although the two looked at each other some sort of mutual thought before turning to him.

"Hey, Roe-Roe!" - Kanami had given him a ridiculous nickname already …? - "If you're going to say something, say it with confidence! Nobody'll listen to you if you sound so pathetically weak! People don't want to get told what to do or get help from someone they think isn't as cool as they are, so don't act wimpy about what you wanna say! You got it?"

Shiroe was at a loss for words, both unable to rise up to the task and reeling from his new, childish nickname. "Uh, did you just … call me Roe-Roe?"

"Hmph. Not exactly the kind of response I was hoping for, but yes. You're Roe-Roe! Ain't it a cute name, Nao?"

Before Naotsugu could comment any further, two more people barged through the thick bushes. One was a beautiful, bespeckled lady around Kanami's age donning a maid-like outfit. The other was a white-haired Elf with black belts wound around his arms and legs. A quick glance revealed the lady to be Indicus, a Sorceress, and the other to be CalmHDale, a Druid.

"My mistress, please, do not run off like that again!" Practically throwing herself at Kanami, Indicus spoke in such a melodramatic way that Shiroe thought that she was acting, but the shared sighs of Naotsugu and Calm. spoke that it was too common an occurrence to be acting. She suddenly whipped around, jabbing a long, slender index finger into Naotsugu's breastplate. "And you, Naotsugu! Stop separating from the group! This is what, the fiftieth time you've wandered off yourself to find Kanami!"

Naotsugu raised his hands defensively. "Hey, isn't that unfair to say, Kuina? I'm a Pathfinder, so it's my job to search out things. I even left a really obvious trail for you and Dale to follow!" From that statement, Shiroe determined that was Naotsugu's Subclass - one's occupation that each person could choose for themselves, unlike their Class - which allowed him to find monsters (and Kanami) more easily and would increase the number of drops a monster would leave after defeating it.

Although Kuina seemed unconvinced by Naotsugu's defense, she turned away with a huff and eyed Shiroe menacingly. He flinched from her glare, which seemed to appease her somewhat, as she turned back to Kanami.

"What are we doing to do with this wimp, my lady?" _Alright, she's going on my list of Girls Who Think They're All That_, Shiroe thought to himself.

Kanami propped one leg on a nearby rock and thrusted her arm towards Shiroe dramatically, a grin smeared on her face. "We're gonna take him with us, of course. Roe-Roe! Tell me where your base is!"

Shiroe could tell that this would be the start of an … _interesting_ adventure.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** RamMutton, Kuina, and CalmHDale were members of the Debauchery Tea Party in canon. Most characters featured in this story will be ones that were created by the author, Touno Mamare, in his notes, and aren't seen in the story proper. The skills used by Shiroe and Kanami are from Mamare's Log Horizon Guide; translation by people on the .me wiki or by me.

You can read the story on Google Docs (which is where I write it) at goo. gl/tbU3QH (remove the space). ((FF needs to make up its mind on whether to allow URLs or not.))


	2. Chapter 2: The Academy

Coming into the clearing that signified that they had left the forest, Shiroe pointed at the Academy, which sat atop a tall hill. "It's up there."

"Woo~! You came a long way to get over here, didn't'cha, Roe-Roe? C'mon, let's go!" Kanami darted off on the skinny pathway up to the Academy, followed by Indicus - he had learned that Kuina was her nickname - after the Elven maid gave Shiroe a chilling glare.

CalmHDale sighed at the sight of Kanami, who pretty clearly was their leader, if only because she was completely uncontrollable. "She's really going to do it, isn't she?"

"Um … if you don't want me, then-" Although Shiroe didn't want to bear the thought of being stuck in the Academy, he didn't want to be a burden, especially if Kanami's handmaiden (or so she seemed) had already taken a disliking to him.

"Oh, that's not it. Kanami will just make a ruckus once she gets there. You see," Dale explained, waving his hand absentmindedly, "she doesn't seem like it, but she's actually pretty pissed over how you're being treated."

"Uh, she is?" Shiroe couldn't see a woman like her being angry over any trivial thing, him especially. The only two people to ever help him out of pure goodwill were the Headmaster and another Half-Alv woman like him. He had been really young when he met her, but she had apparently been a very important woman, especially to an organization called Cradle of the Stars, which consisted of Half-Alvs that aided others of their kind. Kanami just seemed like the person that didn't care about anybody at all.

Dale and Naotsugu both chuckled understandingly, as if they used to have the same line of thought as well. "Yeah, Kanami has her own way of expressing her emotions, but we can tell by the way she was determined to take you in. If she thought you were fine here, she would've just left back there." _Wow, what a nice person._

"Don't take it personally, she just recruits anyone who she thinks will help her have fun. For all her quirks, she's really good at spotting talent, so she definitely sees something in you, too." Dale paused. "Your name is … Shiroe, right?"

"Yeah … not … Roe-Roe," Shiroe said with a dejected tone. _I'm gonna be stuck with that baby nickname forever, won't I?_

"If it makes you feel better," Naotsugu chimed in, "She calls Dale 'Deli'."

Naotsugu's comment was received by a sharp jab from the annoyed Druid, although it seemed only to hurt Dale more than the Guardian. "Why don't you say your own embarrassing nickname before rattling out someone else's?!" Rubbing his elbow tenderly, Dale glowered at his snickering companion.

"Erm … Naotsugu-san? What's yours?" Shiroe felt a bit awkward saying someone's name before having been formally introduced, but decided it was fine this time around.

"Hmm, I-"

"It's 'Panties Head'!" Kanami ducked out from behind Naotsugu, much to the Guardian's surprise.

"W-when did you get over there, Kanami?!" Naotsugu leapt away from Kanami, who stared at him innocently.

"Hm? Oh, you hadn't caught up, so I thought you got mauled by a monster or something and came to help." _And of course, that's what she thinks of first_, Shiroe dejectedly noted to himself. "Oh, and some advice: just ignore Panties Head when he gets on the subject. He's all talk."

"Out of curiosity," Kuina continued for her, "She offered Naotsugu to see her panties when he was talking nonstop about it like an idiot. He practically had a heart attack from that." Hearing that phrase reminded Shiroe of something he had been wondering for a while.

"Um, this is kinda unrelated, but … what exactly is a 'heart attack'? I've read it in my books, but all of the information about what that actually is, is limited."

Kanami looked up in thought before glancing at Dale. "Uh, you've read the books at the big library, right? You probably know something like that."

"Well," Dale looked uncomfortable with all the attention on him, "I've also heard the term, but I don't really know the source. All I've uncovered is that it originated from the Pioneers who began the Second Age of the Gods."

The Second Age of the Gods was a period in history where lost technology from the original Age of the Gods was restored or partially restored. This was the result of an event that has been named the Catastrophe, the May Revolution, or the Third World Fraction. According to the records, these Adventurers - known as "Pioneers" - were from another, more technologically-advanced world and combined their knowledge with resources from this world to create new things. Each area known as 'servers' also had a list of Great Adventurers that had made significant contributions to their server. The area that Shiroe lived in, Yamato, had many such Adventurers. In fact, he was supposedly named after one of them. However, his library had less history books since it was more production-based, so he didn't really know about who this 'Shiroe' was. Of course, he knew what 'Shiroe' _did_, such as avert a terrible attack of Goblins and Sahuagin alongside the beautiful Lander princess Rayneshia El-Arte Corwen. There was so much he had to learn about the history of this world, he had been dying to leave the tight confines of Urumiya.

"Hey, Shiro, are you alright?" Shiroe snapped back to his senses when Naotsugu waved his hand in front of his face. "You completely zoned out back there."

Kuina scoffed. "Hmph. Mob Glasses is the dreamer type, huh? Well you'd better get your head back onto your shoulders before we regroup with the others, or else you'll be a bother for us. And don't-" As she was about to continue, she noticed Kanami climbing up the hill, creating a shortcut for herself by skipping the smooth path. "My lady!" Ignoring Shiroe, Kuina dashed off to help Kanami, who pretty clearly didn't need it.

* * *

When the group arrived at the heavy doors to the Academy, Kanami just gazed at the doors, as if concentrating intensely. "Hey, Roe-Roe?"

"Um, yes?" He didn't really want to know what she had in mind to ask him.

"What would be the coolest way to make an entrance?"

"Umm … I dunno, just … walk in?"

"Oh! I know! Why don't we ride in on a mount?!" Kanami's eyes immediately lit up.

"My lady, we cannot ride mounts inside a structure such as this," Kuina informed her after checking the properties of the Academy. The Swashbuckler's face immediately fell in disappointment.

"Um, Kanami? I need to use my pass to enter anyways …" All three of his companions stared at him, so he continued. "This Academy is guarded by a special seal, so only students, staff, and pre-approved guests may enter. Even if you were begging and banging on the door to be let in or slashed at the gates for a year, you wouldn't be able to get in without a pass."

"Not a very hospitable place, is it?" Naotsugu remarked with a hint of disdain in his voice.

"It tells you what the place inside is like." He walked up to a special panel and drew his student pass, pressing it against the panel. An Elder Maid, a Lander woman, appeared in mid-air front of the doors, her long, wavy, brown hair fluttering around her as she gracefully descended to the ground.

"You are late for the curfew, Mr. Shiroe." Taking note of his companions, she added, "And you have brought guests. Do you realize what time it is?"

He turned to look at the rising sun, and decided to pick the earliest time he could. "Um … is it 3, Miss Marian?"

She glared at him, as if he should have known better - he did, he was just being hopeful - and corrected him with a bitter, "It is 5:00 in the morning, and breakfast begins in two hours. Oh, and before you ask, you left at 2:00 in the morning. So not only did you break curfew, you left the building without supervision as well."

"Wait, what- I wasn't the only one who broke curfew!" Shiroe could distinctly remember passing a number of people on his way outside. It was true that he had broken curfew, though; he hadn't kept track of time while reading some of his books, and didn't bother to check the time on his way out, either, so he wasn't blameless.

"Indeed, you were not. The others were on their way to the Headmaster's to receive the proper punishment, as you will be soon. You have two infractions as well, so don't expect to be dealt with lightly."

Naotsugu suddenly stuck his arm out in front of Shiroe. "Hey now, isn't that unfair?! Isn't it the Academy's fault that students can leave after curfew to begin with?!"

Seeing Miss Marian glare in Naotsugu's direction, Shiroe feared for the worst. "Wait, Naotsugu, it's fine! Really! It's my fault for wandering outside any-"

Miss Marian dashed past them with speed abnormal to Landers. In a split second, she beheaded two monsters that had scaled up the hill. Normally, Landers were unable to perform such feats, which were often done by Adventurers.

"What … was that?" Kuina asked, wide-eyed in awe. Miss Marian was clad in blue armor and a cloak, with a sword in each hand.

"I apologize for my abruptness," Miss Marian explained, "I am not merely a Lander. I serve as one of the Guards of this Academy. This armor I wear is the fruit of the research here at the Academy of Urumiya. It is a revamped design for the Guard's Mobile Armor, technology left behind by the Alvs. I am testing out the prototype, which is sleeker and designed for mobility and scouting. And to answer your question," she turned back to Naotsugu, "Because of the type of seal we used on the door, it does not distinguish between students, guests, and staff. Oftentimes, guests leave at uncanny hours, and we staff must defend the building from monsters on occasion. That is why the doors are always unlocked from the inside." She eyed the group one more time before sighing. "I believe I know what these guests are here to do. Please, go see the Headmaster. He will decide what to do with you. Nobody is in there, so you may go right in."

At Miss Marian's signal, the two double doors opened for them, and they walked in. No one else was in sight. Shiroe led the group down a grand staircase to a large hall that was empty aside from one large elevated area. He stopped in front of it, hesitating to step on.

"That's a teleportation area, isn't it? What's the matter?" Naotsugu tried getting a good look at Shiroe's face to understand what his new teammate was thinking, to no avail.

"Well, the thing is-" Shiroe paused, "-I'm not sure if we should all go."

"Would something bad happen if we did?"

"Not bad, particularly, but-"

Kanami grabbed his hand and hopped onto the platform as the others followed her. "Then there's nothing to be afraid of! Let's go!" The bright light surrounding them meant that the teleportation was underway.

When Shiroe opened his eyes, he was met with a face-full of books, stacked neatly on a shelf. He could feel Kanami's and Dale's bodies pressed uncomfortably close to his.

"Welcome, young Shiroe and guests. As you can see, my alcove is rather homely." The Headmaster's wizened voice, a sign of his old age, was heard from behind him. So his back was turned to the Headmaster. Awkward.

"-I think you mean cramped. Agh! Kuina, get off me!" Shiroe heard Kuina smack the Guardian, whose voice sounded strained. The second he recovered himself, he realized why. During the teleportation process, someone (probably Kanami) had become unbalanced, causing Kanami and Kuina to topple on top of Naotsugu. The cramped room caused Dale to instinctively back away from the wall and into Shiroe, creating a wonderfully awkward situation in front of the Headmaster.

"This happens to be my definition of homely," the Headmaster responded coolly. Kuina was about to snap something at Shiroe when the Headmaster raised his hand. "If you don't mind, you-" he pointed at Kuina, "-and you-" he switched over to Dale, "will leave this office. It's far too cramped here. I'll tell Miss Marian to prepare you some tea in the waiting room." With a wave of his hand, the two disappeared, much to the surprise of the remaining three. He then sat down in front of his desk and clasped his hands, a sign for Shiroe to speak.

"Headmaster, I-"

"Roe-Roe is coming with us." Kanami cut in rudely, to Shiroe's horror. Naotsugu looked like he wanted to take a nap somewhere. "I don't like it here."

"I see. And what is it that you don't like?" The Headmaster didn't seem too perturbed, though, so Shiroe decided not to butt in. Kanami seemed to be better at words than he was, anyways.

"The atmosphere. The way you do things here. All of it, I suppose."

"I would say for a person who has no idea how things around here really are run, 'all of it' is a bit harsh. The atmosphere, I must agree. This has been a tradition for hundreds of years, and while I have attempted to alleviate the discrimination within this Academy, some things … stay longer than others."

"Whatever happens here, I'm not letting talent waste away here." Shiroe felt flushed. Him? A talent?

"Yes, I do agree. I have sensed for a long time, ever since Shiroe got here, that he was designed for greatness. Perhaps a different type of greatness than most would think of, but greatness anyhow. Take care of him well. Adieu." Before Kanami could respond, she, too, was teleported out. Naotsugu seemed surprised that he was still there.

"Um, Headmaster?" Shiroe was left confused, first by the matter they had discussed so calmly in front of him, and now the fact that Naotsugu was here.

"There is something I wished to tell the both of you. Shiroe, do you have that pendant that you were given many years ago?" Shiroe looked down at his waist, where a moon-and-star pendant hung from his waist. "I see. Remember to keep it safe. It will bring you many opportunities."

"Um … yes?" He wasn't sure how to respond, not that it mattered, since the Headmaster immediately continued speaking.

"Go to the College in Tsukuba and seek out a woman named Sheiola. She has done some research and knows much more than anyone here, even I, on the history of this world. You will find out more there. There is a great legend behind your name, Shiroe. As well as you, Naotsugu."

"Uh ... me?" Naotsugu pointed at himself dumbly in disbelief. Both boys were left speechless, unable to comprehend what the Headmaster had just told them. "Remember, go to the College in Tsukuba and find Sheiola. She can probably answer almost all your questions. You are dismissed." With that, Naotsugu and Shiroe saw a bright flash of light as they were teleported back to the platform they had stood on to enter the room.

"What was that all about?!" Kuina immediately marched down the staircase and stood in front of them, glaring at them in an accusatory manner. "What could possibly be so secretive that Kanami was kicked out?! Panties Head and Fodder Glasses, with some secret assignment? That's bound to go well," she huffed.

Kanami, in stark contrast, skipped over after leaping off the first step to the bottom. "Hooh~ what'd old guy say? Anything super cool?"

Naotsugu scratched his head awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "Well, it looks like it's gonna be an annoying festival. He told us to meet some woman in the College of Tsukuba."

"Ooh~! I've always wanted to go to Tsukuba! I heard they've got some awesome stew over there, a legendary stew whose secret recipe has been sourced to the Second Age of the Gods!" Kanami's eyes lit up in a way that slightly unnerved Shiroe.

Footsteps descending the stairs drew their attention to a wavy-haired woman with dark glasses and traditional magical researcher's robes. "Miss Marian!" Shiroe curtly bowed in front of her.

"Woah, woah, wait, this is the same Miss Marian that was kicking ass outside just before?! She looks completely different!" Naotsugu backed up immediately out of surprise, as if in denial. It was true that the robes and hairstyle, which was now in a tight ponytail, gave her a different impression than before. Shiroe thought that "completely different" was a bit of a stretch, though.

"Yes, it is I, Miss Marian the Monster-Ass-Kicking Master. If you four are leaving - well, today - it is best that you get some rest beforehand. I have already prepared some rooms for the guests."

Shiroe gulped. There was no backing out of this now. He was finally going to leave the Academy.

* * *

Author's Notes: Because this website hates my formatting, I'll probably just update the story on Google Docs. goo. gl/tbU3QH (remove the space)


	3. Chapter 3: First Steps

Shiroe groggily opened his eyes as he woke up. After sitting up, he opened his curtains, the brightness momentarily blinding his eyes. From the brightness and the shadows cast by the trees, it was probably around ten in the morning. He'd only gotten less than five hours' worth of sleep, but he was too excited by the prospect of leaving to really care. Just a little bit more, and he'd be out of this terrible, cramped place. After equipping his best equipment, he went down to the guest rooms, where the others were. Some students glanced at him and whispered to each other when they saw him; rumors sure did fly fast.

"Hey, Roe-Roe! You're up!" Kanami was bright and cheery as usual, while Kuina sat on the bench, composed (that, or sleeping), while Naotsugu and Dale didn't even attempt to hide the fact that they were exhausted. "I got word from the other members. They're going to wait for us at some place. Not sure where, but they said something about it being 'really different from everything else.'" Despite the extremely vague description, she didn't seem bothered by it at all, just like how she didn't care that she had been completely lost earlier. That was just the way she was, it seemed.

"Good morning, Kanami. I've packed everything I need." Kanami eyed his equipment. None of his equips, even his best ones, were up-to-level; his bag looked like it could barely even hold one potion.

"Right. We'll be getting you some new gear along the way."

"Uh … yeah." Shiroe looked at his gear; this alone was among the best the Academy had to offer to someone like him, who didn't get much practical experience (and thus less loot). "Sure." He felt embarrassed just by the way Kanami had looked at him, as if he really wasn't worth the effort. However, he had no time to think about that, as Kanami had roughly woken the others up and immediately directed them to go fill up before they set off.

After their "brunch" (another term the Pioneers brought), they were given some potions, courtesy of Miss Marian and some of the Production Guilds that supplied parties with necessary supplies. Although Shiroe didn't really need it, weapon and armor repairs were necessary for the other three, who had been in many more fights than he had. As they were about to set foot outside the doors, though, a rude voice interrupted them.

"Hah! So the loser Shiroe actually did find a group?!" Shiroe grimaced. It was Tiburon, a Monk that constantly bullied him. The boy's expression became darker upon seeing that it really was true. "That loser Shiroe actually joined a party before I did?! And even got approval from the Headmaster?! As if I'm letting him leave!" He slammed his gauntlet-covered fists together aggressively. Mutters immediately filled the hallways. Shiroe knew what was coming.

Whenever Tiburon could, he'd at least try and beat up Shiroe for no reason other than amusement. It hadn't happened lately because Miss Marian had been keeping a diligent eye on them, but she must not have suspected anything to happen now that Shiroe was close to graduating. All he had to do was step outside the walls of the Academy, and he was free. But considering Tiburon's nature, he was intent on PKing him to keep him from leaving. For an Enchanter like Shiroe, he had no chance of winning against a Monk. Judging from the reactions of all the other students watching, they were expecting a duel, and some were probably even hoping that Tiburon would win. _I was so close, too! So close! _Shiroe gritted his teeth in frustration. His hopes were dashed thanks to the pride of a stupid Monk.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kanami with an expression he had never expected to see. Her smile had fallen. Right after he got a glimpse of it, though, she returned to her happy-go-lucky self - and just turned on her heels to leave. Kuina and Dale flanked Shiroe on both sides, with Naotsugu serving as the rear guard. They had no intention of taking on the challenge.

"Ha! Being a coward, Shiroe? C'mon, fight!"

Kanami gave Kuina some sort of signal, as Kuina fell behind and turned back to face Tiburon. Although Shiroe wanted to watch, Naotsugu herded him to relative safety outside the doors, which meant that Tiburon already failed in his goal.

"Miss Marian! Are you just gonna let him leave like that?!" Seeing that his attempt to stop Shiroe had failed, Tiburon turned to the closest staff member in sight desperately. She had come running as soon as she had heard that Tiburon was causing trouble again, and only glared at the scene in front of her.

"Pathetic." Kuina spat, drawing all eyes to herself. "Let me see, you're … Tiburon, Level 44 Monk. Talentless."

"The hell did you say?! What the hell kinda guild are you in, big shot?! I bet I'm a lot more useful than that weak Enchanter!"

Kuina raised a finger, as if educating a child. "First, we are not a guild, we are a party. Second, we are the 'Debauchery Tea Party', originally just the 'Tea Party'. Third, our aim to have as much fun adventuring and defeating strong monsters as we can. Fourth, all recruitions go through our leader, my lady Kanami. And fifth, Kanami only recruits those with great potential, something you lack." She emphasized each point by raising a slender, graceful finger corresponding with the number. Suddenly, she closed her fingers into a fist, creating a fireball around it, giving her an eerie glow. "Now scram. I shouldn't have to say this twice. If you're smart, at least, which you don't seem to be."

That was enough to tip the haughty Monk over the edge. "Not if I send you to the Cathedral first!" Completely ignoring the level difference, he charged at her, intending to use a skill. Smirking, Kuina received his challenge by preparing to fire her magic.

A great gust of wind blasted both potential combatants back, kicking up a lot of dust around the room. As it settled, both Miss Marian and another Lander in Mobile Armor stood where Kuina and Tiburon had been, weapons drawn.

"Marie, I would appreciate it if you would resolve conflicts _before_ they come this close to starting," the other man said. He had unkempt blonde hair and blue eyes, but his facial structure and eyes made it seem like he was related to Miss Marian. Some of the female students' eyes seemed to turn into hearts at the sight of him.

"Mr. Code!"

"Aah, it's Mr. Jophiel Code, in the flesh!" Such statements could be heard around the room.

Dale seemed shocked upon hearing the name. "Did they say … Code?"

"Um, yeah, he's the Head Guard here. Miss Marian is related to the Code family as well, that's why there's some resemblance between them. Mr. Code doesn't appear terribly often, though. In fact, this is the first time I've seen him in-person, but that might be because I'm usually holed up in the library, reading."

Dale didn't seem to be paying attention, too busy staring at Mr. Code in awe. "I've heard of the Code bloodline," he muttered absentmindedly. "They're said to be the descendants of Rundelhous Code, a great Lander during the Second Age of the Gods who was the first and only Lander-Adventurer hybrid. Rumors say that members of the bloodline are extremely talented at fighting, since Rundelhous Code had his children with an Adventurer. Although his descendants were also Landers rather than Adventurers, they had much more fighting prowess and faster leveling than most Landers."

Shiroe understood the implications. For him, it was a step towards learning more about the Pioneers, and perhaps, the person whom he was named after. Seeing Miss Marian wave him off, he followed the others as they dashed off, away from the dreary Academy.

* * *

"So do we _really_ know where we're going?"

"'A place that doesn't look like anywhere else, you'll know it when you get there.' That's what Naz-Naz said."

"Who's that?"

"A Foxtail Kannagi. Among our best, although she's a bit on the lazy side. Her name's Nazuna."

The group followed Naotsugu's trail as he went ahead in search of the rest of the Debauchery Tea Party members. Kanami kept on attracting the Hate of nearby monsters to "give Roe-Roe practice," so Shiroe was starting to feel a bit tired from helping fend off the mobs. However, it really was good practice, so he couldn't really complain. It was nice having a party that actually helped you and worked with you to defeat monsters, unlike the makeshift teams randomly assigned at the Academy.

Up ahead, they could see Naotsugu at the top of a small hill, just standing there. When they joined him, they realized why. In a clearing of the forest, an entire area near the edge of the cliff was a massive rose garden.

"Well, I think that's the 'place that doesn't look like anywhere else' Nazuna mentioned," Naotsugu remarked as the others stood in awe.

Suddenly, they sensed the presence of two figures. A little further ahead, two women sat underneath the shade of the gazebo in the center of the garden. One woman, who was standing, seemed to be an Elder Maid, an attendant for the other younger lady that was seated. The lady that was seated seemed to be around 20 years old, and her elegant dress suggested that she was one of nobility.

Shiroe tried checking her profile. However, all he could get was Unknown Mysterious Lady for her name and ? for everything else. Similarly, the attendant's stats were hidden, and her name was just Lady's Handmaiden. He must have looked baffled, because the lady opened her mouth to explain.

"You must be the companions of the other group that had arrived here earlier. I apologize, I am a Lander. Would you like to hear my request?"

If it was a Lander with a request, that meant that it was a Quest. Oftentimes, Quests would give special items, money, and bonus EXP to Adventurers. Landers with requests had a special orange glow to them that only Adventurers could sense, so they could find them with ease. This would result in a win-win situation; Landers would get the job done, and Adventurers would walk away with rewards. This Mysterious Lady had such a request.

Now that he thought of it, Shiroe realized that he couldn't see her eyes because of the hat that she wore. _Is she using magic to hide her identity …? I've never seen anything like it_.

"Hmm … let's hear it!" Kanami just seemed excited by the prospect of some more action.

"There is a rampaging monster on the loose. They say he was once a powerful warrior who lost his mind, and now is nothing more than another one of the monsters. I've been searching for someone who could possibly stop him, but there has been no success thus far. Oh, what level are you?"

Some quests had level caps, so only those above or below a certain level could undertake it. Judging from her statement, this one probably had a level cap too high for them.

The lady quickly picked up on that, adding, "Oh, that's too bad. Become stronger, and then come see me again. I always move around in search of stronger people. Perhaps you can be the one to help me. Your friends are relaxing somewhere in this garden. Please, I do not want to disrupt you on your journey. I won't hold you back anymore."

* * *

After the Debauchery Tea Party had regrouped and left, the Mysterious Lady's disguise vanished. She slumped in her chair and sighed in an unladylike fashion.

The Handmaiden, her disguise also vanishing to reveal her real name, Elissa, sighed as well, although for a different reason. Ever since Princess Rayneshia was born, she had been like this.

"It's too difficult, Elissa," Rayneshia moaned. "How am I supposed to keep on putting up this act? I just wanna take a nap~."

Her handmaiden had no words for her. The task they had wasn't easy, trying to get strong Adventurers to stop this monster from the Second Age of the Gods. It had only been 500 years since then, but 500 years was enough time for history to get muddled. Some stories get lost, some stories get saved, some are merged with other events, some are exaggerated. The story behind this monster was one of the ones that had been lost. Because that man had been unwilling to set the flow of history against this monster, he chose to bury his existence rather than unveil the truth. Whether it was a wise decision or not, it was now her and Rayneshia's duty to prevent the monster from wreaking havoc.

Rayneshia may have attained the power to control the magical remnants of the Alvs, but it was still a borrowed power that was all being used to keep the monster in check. Hiding their stats and teleporting from place to place was the extent of her power now. She was also never one to enjoy politics, so her routine meetings with the Kunie clan exhausted her even further. Combined with her lazy self, Rayneshia's life hadn't become any easier since the Catastrophe.

The princess sighed. _The gears that seemed to have stopped so long ago are finally moving again_, she thought as she rose from her seat and stepped out of the gazebo. She raised her arms, and the roses began glowing and emitting a powdery substance into the sky. This rose garden was a symbol of her domain, created with the power of magical technology.

Elissa understood what Rayneshia was doing. "Princess, you shouldn't overexert yourself like this! You were already using tremendous amounts of energy to prevent him from barging in and killing those Adventurers!"

"That's why we must move. I have to find Elias to help me subdue him temporarily. I can feel it," she replied. "I can tell that his heart and his spirit are disturbed by their presence. If that's the case, then perhaps Sheiola's theory about Adventurers is true."

Elissa had nothing to say as the bright light engulfed them. When it dissipated, the rose garden and its inhabitants were gone, leaving a simple clearing overlooking the dense forest below.

* * *

As the group sat around the fire, having settled down for the night, Shiroe sat on a fallen log, staring blankly into the crackling flames. His mind was swimming with questions about the mysterious lady in the equally-mysterious rose garden.

"Hey, Shiroe, you're spacing out again." Naotsugu sat down beside him with a juicy chicken drumstick in his hand before digging into his meal. "Y'shou' get shome 'fore it's gone," he told the new member with his mouth still filled with food.

"Ugh, Naotsugu, how many times do I need to remind you not to talk with your mouth full?! Really, are you 17? You act more like you're 7," a woman near them quipped. She was Anba , one of the three Kannagi in the party. Just by looking at her, it was easy to tell that she was narcissistic. She wore a Heian-style kimono and held her magical item, a folding fan, in her left hand. From how she had been using it ever since Shiroe had met her, it seemed to have a secondary purpose of whacking any other members that said something she didn't like. However, she had yet to whack him, which he saw to be a good thing.

"Lil' Shiroe's the intellectual type, eh? Well, that'll be a good addition to our team. _Some_ people around here are a bit too emotional."

"Are you suggesting something, Nurukan?!" There wasn't a whack this time, mainly because Anba knew she wouldn't be able to hit the Werecat Monk unless he let her. He grinned mischievously at her as she glared daggers at him.

"Never said I was talking about you, Anba." He deftly hopped over to Shiroe, standing over the younger member. "What's getting you so restless, Lil' Shiroe?"

Shiroe cupped his chin with his hand. "That woman we saw … she was able to hide her stats. I've never met or heard of a Lander that could use magic like that. She didn't look powerful, but magic like that is probably very difficult to pull off."

A Werecat dressed in a tuxedo-like outfit appeared from the trees with Kanami and a couple other members. He was Nyanta, also known as "Chief", and was one of the group's oldest members with substantial wisdom about their world. Of course, the amount of knowledge he held wasn't nearly as much as a researcher's, but it was more practical knowledge than Shiroe and most of the other members knew.

"Landers using high-level magic, nya? There are such examples of that; you've heard of the Ancients, haven't you, nya?"

Of course he had. The Ancients were figures of legend; unnaturally strong Landers that often played a part in the history and lore of the land. Occasionally, Ancients would give out quests or even participate as a guest party member. They were chosen by a mysterious force to protect the land, interfering in events in case the Adventurers were unable to clear the requirements. However, they were elusive and rarely ever came out, especially after the Second Age of the Gods. Almost all the Ancients had been wiped from existence during the Catastrophe, as their strongholds were left devoid of life. However, it was rumored that after the Mass Disappearance, Ancients began to reappear in the world. Perhaps it was the world's way of reestablishing balance after most of the Adventurer population vanished. Nobody knew for sure, though.

"She probably had a very high-level quest."

"Level cap …"

Both Landers and Adventurers had levels, which was usually a quick way to gauge strength. The higher the level, the higher your stats were. Adventurers usually gained EXP four times faster than Landers did, making them better-suited for killing monsters. At a certain level, one's strength seemed to stop growing at that point, and no amount of EXP gained or monsters slain would lead to a level up. That was called the "level cap". The most difficult quests and raids would require its participants to be at the level cap. Whatever the mysterious lady's monster was, it probably required a full raid group of level-cap Adventurers to defeat it.

He still had a long way to go. Shiroe balled his hands that were too weak to make a difference into fists, cursing his own naïveté. A strong but gentle hand pressed down on his shoulder, causing him to look up in the direction that the person had come from.

It was Kazuhiko, an Assassin who bore a heavy sense of responsibility and chivalry. He oftentimes was the one who took care of the others, and had been assisting Shiroe since they had met at the rose garden. Due to his lower level, and thus lower stamina, Shiroe often lagged behind the others. Kazuhiko would always stay behind him, making sure that nothing ambushed him, and helping him pass more difficult terrain. He also gave Shiroe a lot of advice.

"Shiroe, don't worry about what you can't do. Focus on what you can. Right now, you can't do anything about that quest. What you can do, though, is raise your level."

"That's right, Roe-Roe! Since your Academy thing was so drabby, we're gonna go get you better armor from one of the dungeons 'round here!" Kanami turned to Kuina, smiling. "Hey, Advisor, are there any dungeons nearby for Roe-Roe?"

The maid adjusted her glasses, gazing at a map that she held in her hands. "If we are heading in the direction of Tsukuba, we will pass by the Adventurer City Akiba, which means that we can head to the Kanda Flume. It is designed for Adventurers around level 46."

"Slightly higher than Shiroe's current level, but it should be fine since we have higher levels than them," Kazuhiko added. "Not all of us have to go, since we're just doing this so acquire better equipment for him. The ones that do go can temporarily lower our levels so he gets the hang of things."

"That's a great idea, Kazu-ii~!" Kanami clapped her hands together. "Hey, Kuina, how long should it take to get there?"

"If we go at our normal pace, we should be able to arrive there in three and a half days if we depart at sunrise tomorrow morning. Do note," she added, her eyes narrowing slightly, "that there are some notorious PK groups around that area. The Ueno Rogue Castle has been the cause of a deteriorated public safety for quite a while now."

Although Shiroe balked at the idea of facing Player Killers, he saw smirks appear on the other members of the Tea Party.

"So it's time to discipline them, nya?"

"They'd better not soil my clothes."

"They'll be in our way, let's just clear them out while we're at it."

After hearing her teammates' confident quips, Kanami drew one of her swords. "Great! We'll head out in the morning, then. Get ready to kick some PK and Sahuagin ass!"


	4. Chapter 4: Calling for Reinforcements

In spite of his aching legs, Shiroe continued scaling the mountain with Nurukan and Kazuhiko behind him. They had been scaling mountain since the crack of dawn, since it was in the path leading to the raid Kanami wanted to go on. On top of an Enchanter's normally-lower strength and stamina, he was around twenty levels below the other members of the team, meaning he had even less than normal. Despite this, he didn't want to be a bother for the others, so he kept pushing himself on.

"Heyo! How's Roe-Roe doin'?!" Kanami shouted back towards them from the front, where she stood poised at a rock. "C'mon, the view here's great!"

When he had caught up to her, the scenery took his breath away. They weren't at the highest peak, but he could see the shimmering lake below them and the dense forests covering the area. It was certainly wasn't a view that Urumiya had to offer.

"Wow …" Shiroe stared at the view in awe, ignoring the content smirks of the others around him. "I've never seen anything like this before in-person. There were small ponds and rivers near the Academy, but never something like this."

He heard Kanami turn to keep moving, and they all followed suit. Just pausing to rest for that brief moment had brought energy back to him. _Adventurer stamina really is amazing, isn't it_, Shiroe thought to himself. Although he had read about all the benefits of being an Adventurer, he never really thought too deeply about it until now.

"Hey, Shiroe," the Foxtail Kannagi Nazuna said as she approached his side, "What was that Academy like?"

"Huh? Oh, um … well, we're broken up by age groups, so I'm usually with people the same age as me. They're also the people I go raiding with."

"Ah? Nao told me that you usually can't get a party to go raiding with you."

"Oh, well, about that … you see, we get sent on raids for assignments, and usually our teachers separate us into parties for that. We're usually encouraged to go to raid dungeons outside of class, but we have to find our own parties to go. Most people don't want me, or want me just to make fun of me if I fail."

Nazuna and Kazuhiko were silent as they contemplated his words. Finally, Kazuhiko added dubiously, "Isn't that … risky?"

"Eh?"

"A success of a raid depends on its members cooperating to take down the monsters. If they just want to make fun of you, why would they waste their time taking you on a raid? It takes time and effort. They'd risk dying and losing EXP just to make fun of you? That sounds rather counterproductive." After another pause, he continued, "Well, I guess this is the point of age where people are willing to do stupid things like that, huh …"

Seeing that the conversation had turned awkward, Nazuna jumped in. "What else do you guys do? What do you guys do with raid drops?"

"Ahm … we use a point system where those who do the best at killing monsters or healing gets the most points. At the end of the raid, those with the most points get the best equipment suitable for their class."

"So it's inherently unfair towards classes that aren't good at attacking or healing."

"Yeah."

"Your Academy sucks."

Although it was a fair assessment, Shiroe still felt the need to defend it. "Well, to be fair, it's mostly disadvantageous for Bards and Enchanters, neither of which have many members of in our Academy."

"Even so, for the Academy to openly disregard such classes creates a stigma against them, doesn't it?" Kazuhiko's brows furrowed, although Shiroe didn't understand why. It wasn't like there was much they could do about it, and besides, he wasn't there anymore.

"Kazu-yan's always had a strong sense of justice," Nazuna explained. "Just look at his Knight subclass. He always thinks about justice for other people over himself. It's a good and bad thing, I guess."

"Yeah, I suppose …" Shiroe wasn't sure how to continue the conversation, so he just trailed off. The woman from the day before was still on his mind, leaving him preoccupied in his thoughts. Nazuna, seeing that he wasn't in the mood to talk, smiled and waved to Kazuhiko before going back up towards the front.

* * *

At nighttime, Shiroe ravenously ate the stew that Nyanta had prepared. However, even that was nothing compared to Naotsugu, who practically ate it by the bowls. _His appetite is terrifying,_ Shiroe balked as some other members laughed.

"Naotsugu, you should leave some of it for the others, nya," Nyanta reminded him.

"CHIEF!" Naotsugu exclaimed, "THE MEAL WAS DELICIOUS AS ALWAYS!"

A loud thwack informed Shiroe that Anba had hit him again. "Naotsugu, what did I tell you about lowering your voice?! You're going to inform any enemies of our presence!"

"Hm? We're in PK territory already?"

A rather well-endowed Wolf Fang Guardian, Suizakura, piped up from where she stood, leaning against a tree. "We are. In this area, there seems to be a rather notorious PK guild called Brigandia. Its current leader, according to a rumor, is a Wolf Fang Assassin. Name, equips, and stats are unknown."

"Ah, you're back from scouting, Suu?" Naotsugu asked as he grabbed his armor to perform daily maintenance on it. "Was that all you found?"

"From what I overheard from some members, they're aware of an 'unfamiliar presence' in the area and are going to check it out."

Nurukan's eyes narrowed. "So in other words, they're going to attack us."

"The most likely scenario. Kuina and some others are already on the lookout. Should we put out the fire?"

He cupped his chin with his hand before coming to a decision. "No. If they're going to come, let them. We can defeat them even if they ambushed us." He turned to Shiroe. "Hey, Lil' Shiroe, get some rest while you can. We've got no idea when they'll attack."

Reluctantly, Shiroe did as he was told.

* * *

"Shiroe, Shiroe!" He was awoken by Naotsugu shaking him roughly by the shoulders. "Get ready, some scouting parties have been heading this way." After waking him up, Naotsugu left his side to dash to the frontlines.

The Enchanter grabbed his Fine Bamboo Staff, a new piece of equipment he had acquired from one of the monsters he had helped defeat. He hadn't bothered unequipping anything else because he had expected something like this.

A large-figured Summoner, Taigamaru, sat with his eyes closed and his right hand raised, probably using Soul Possession to scout, keeping an eye on their opponents' movements through one of his Summons. He dismissed the spell, turning worriedly towards Kanami. "Kanami, we've got trouble."

"Hm?"

"Because we killed some of their scouts earlier … they seem to be sending some of their stronger men. Levels 90-120."

"Level-cap members …?"

"Specifically, their leader is among them." Taigamaru could see that Kanami was itching for battle, but even she knew her limits. With the Tea Party's strongest members' levels in the high 60s, they stood no chance against members of that level. Furthermore, since some of them had entered the Academy of Urumiya, which had a Cathedral, they would revive there while the others would revive in another city; that made the options of using Call of Home to escape or allowing themselves to get killed a last resort.

After some hesitation, Kanami made her decision. "Let's retreat for now and lay low so they can't find us. Using the intel we've gathered, we figure out how to deal with them."

Plopping himself on a rock in the cave where they had taken refuge, Naotsugu sighed. "Well? What now?"

Dale gazed at the entrance of the cave as he spoke, not looking back at the others. "Some of the major PK guilds around this area include Scarecrow, BlightFang, and Brigandia. The most worrisome one is Brigandia, since it's essentially the ringleader for all the other ones. Its leader is Shambar, a Pesilat."

"Pesilat?" Naotsugu asked confusedly. Shiroe wondered that himself, since he was unfamiliar with such a class.

"It's a Class from another area. It corresponds with our Monks."

Anba narrowed her eyes. "So Briganida was formed by someone who's not from around here?"

"I don't know if he founded Briganida. That guild is ruled by 'might makes right', so whoever is the strongest is the leader. It's fully possible that after jumping through a Transport Gate or Fairy Ring, Shambar just stayed here and eventually took over the guild through force."

Nyanta, who was also on the lookout for enemies with his back pressed against the stone walls of the cave, spoke. "And if the guild is defeated by outsiders?"

"... I haven't heard of that happening yet. Its members are cruel, and the the fact that their name is so widespread is a hint of their notoriety and power."

"Hey, Chief, have you spotted anything?" Kanami asked.

"Not at the moment."

"Ya think there's any chance of sneaking past them?"

"Considering that there's a major trading port just past these mountains, I believe that the PK guilds have a major encampment near the mountains we have to pass. Chances are slim," Dale added.

Shiroe then remembered something. "Wait, that city is …?"

"Yokohama. It is famous for having a residential district made up of immigrants from the Eureddo continent. It also is one of Eastal's greatest trading ports, and is a popular tourist destination for Yamato Adventurers due to its unique nature."

"And thus, perfect for those who want to rob caravans or steal loot off of Adventurers or Landers, isn't that right?" Kuina adjusted her glasses as she spoke.

"Actually," Shiroe began, "I know someone that went to go there not too long ago. She might still be there."

"What's her level?"

"Erm …" Shiroe stammered, "I'm not really sure. Probably around your level or lower, since she's not that much of a fighter. She's charismatic, though, so she might be able to rally some help."

Some of the other members looked at each other and just shrugged. Shiroe took that as a sign of "you may as well, because there's not much else we can do." Looking through his Friends List, he came across the name he wanted and clicked on the Telepathy Call button. After a couple of rings, he knew that the person he wanted had picked up.

He knew because he heard a booming "HEEELLLLOOOOO~ SHIRO-BOU~!" straight in his ear, causing him flinch.

"H-hello, Maryelle." Maryelle was a fellow former student at the Academy of Urumiya that was five years his senior. For a period of time, she had served as an advisor for younger students, with him among her group. Although she was a Cleric, she disliked fighting and preferred hanging out with friends within the safety of city walls. She was always bubbly and spoke with a particular accent; she was one of those who came to Academy later than most. Since he was young, she had been caring for him, being one of the few who helped him without any ulterior motives.

"Are you eating well? How's your equips? Tibby's not been mean to you lately, has he? What about those other people? How's the little Magic Light?"

Shiroe grinned sheepishly as she barraged him with questions. "Um, Marie … I don't think all the Magic Lights I summon are the same ones, and it's not like it needs to eat or anything. Hey, Marie?"

There was silence on her end before she spoke up again. "Sorry-sorry-sorry! Umeko was being a meanie again~." This person, whose real name was Henrietta, was also from the Academy of Urumiya and was the same age as Maryelle. As a Bard, she could sympathize with Shiroe's troubles in the Academy; however, like Maryelle, she wasn't very interested in raiding. "Umeko, Umeko, UMEKO~!"

It was also worth noting that Henrietta absolutely despised being called Umeko, finding the nickname embarrassing. Maryelle had come up with it out-of-the-blue one day and decided that it was cute. She was a bit like Kanami in that way.

"Hey, Marie!" Shiroe called her name exasperatedly. His situation was quite urgent, and her lackadaisical personality could be grating at times. "Could you hear me out at least?!"

"Eh? Oh, sorry, sorry! What is it, Shiro-bou?"

"I'm in the mountain valley between Urumiya and Yokohama, but I'm in a bit of a pinch. Brigandia and probably some other PK guilds are slowly narrowing in on us, and we have … essentially a zero percent chance of coming out alive. Could you possibly contact someone to help us?"

"B-Brigandia?! You're- wait, 'we'? Shiro-bou, you …"

"Marie, please. We can talk later, the situation here is important!" Shiroe was growing impatient, raising his voice.

"Ah, ah, okay, Shiro-bou. I'll see what I can do here. Please don't get angry, okay? I'm going off now." She ended the call there, making Shiroe wonder if he upset her.

Although most of the others were preparing for the inevitable battle, he could tell that some of them were listening into his conversation. Even if Maryelle was going to try and gather reinforcements, there was no saying who was willing to go or when they would arrive, if ever. They were heading towards a port city, not an Adventurer City which would definitely have PKK groups. Shiroe gnawed on his thumb worriedly, trying to think his way out of the situation.

If they came all at once, they were screwed. Even if they didn't come all at once, they were still screwed. They would have to fight the higher-level members sooner or later. Sooner meant that they'd be overwhelmed all at once and killed. Later meant they'd be exhausted from fighting the lower-level mooks and would get wiped out in an instant.

Anba's head suddenly jolted upwards. "Someone's triggered one of my talismans," she reported. "They're within two kilometers from us." The impending doom of their situation grew ever more dire, something everyone could feel.

Everyone's heads turned towards Kanami. The fun-loving Swashbuckler, stood up, her hand on one of her sheathed blades as she glared towards the forest below them. "Kuina, your idea?"

The Tea Party's advisor was silent for a moment, so Shiroe cut in before she could speak. "I think we should head towards Yokohama." All heads spun towards him, making him regret speaking up, but it was too late to back down now. "If even the leader of Brigandia, the strongest member, has mobilized, that means that as long as we outpace him and his forces, he won't be a threat to us."

"They're not going to leave their base undefended, though," Kuina argued. "They probably know that we're going to make a break for Yokohama and have strong men stationed en route."

"And we're sitting ducks right here! They can't have the whole mountainside filled with men, so there are probably at least some areas that are less well-defended. Furthermore, if we go towards Yokohama, then that means any possible reinforcements have less distance and time to travel to get to us." Shiroe looked around desperately. He didn't want to get killed and land back in Urumiya now that he finally had freedom. He didn't want the others to get killed here, either.

Kuina said nothing more, seemingly satisfied with his answer as she declared, "I agree with Fodder Glasses. It's your call, Kanami."

"Let's go, then! Naotsugu, carry Shiroe so he keeps up with us."

"Alright!" Shiroe started to protest as he felt himself lifted off the ground and thrown over Naotsugu's shoulder, and soon enough, he could feel that they were on the move.

"Any contact with the enemy?" Kanami used Party Chat so that everyone could hear even if they were far from her.

"Negative."

"Gorouhachirou is moving out to intercept any traps in the way!" The Tea Party's Samurai announced his intentions as he ran ahead of the group.

"Similarly, Aihie will move ahead as a scouting unit!" The Assassin Aihie followed quickly along Gorouhachirou's trail to ensure that nothing would happen to him.

"I've laid some traps for anyone who catches onto our trail," Dale added.

Noticing that Naotsugu was slower than most of the others due to his heavy armor, Shiroe decided to help. "Overrunner!"

Naotsugu sped up for sure, but because Shiroe had done it without warning, he nearly ran into a tree. "Woah! Hey, Shiro, next time you do that, at least warn me first!"

"Ah, sorry!"

"Well, that was useful anyways, since I'm the Party's main tank, so thanks!"

"Everyone! Enemies sighted! Visual contact on a patrol group of eight, ranging between levels 30-60! Four Warriors, two DPS, one Cleric, one Sorcerer!"

Instantly, Kanami gave orders; it was probably second nature to her by now. "Aihie, take out their Healer if you're hidden. Sui, grab the others' attention. Detach, we're engaging; all others, keep a lookout for any reinforcements as you go on ahead!"

"Yes!" Some of the members broke off from the group, following Kanami and Suizakura as they went to fight the patrol team. Shiroe could only feel impending despair as Dale's cries that the enemy had walked into one of his traps rang in his ears.

* * *

"Please, help me!" Maryelle stopped strangers in the city, only to be ignored or receive shaking heads in response. Desperately, she pressed on, looking for someone that would go up against the notorious PK group for even a little while.

The people in this city knew of the guild's threat. Most of the population here were Landers who had no chance of fighting back, and most Adventurers simply teleported here through the Transport Gates or used Fairy Rings to get to the nearby dungeons, bypassing the mountain range completely.

"Will nobody help me at least get them back?!"

The crowds of people just sidestepped her and moved on, seeing her as just a minor disturbance in their day that was easily forgotten. _It's their fault for going there_ or _We can't waste time bothering with such a trivial thing_ and _They'll revive anyways_ were the thoughts running through their heads. Death was cruel, but natural. It was the price of getting too far ahead of themselves. Even Landers found death and destruction to be a common occurrence. Villages would be destroyed, and another one would be erected soon after.

There was no chance for Maryelle to gather a group large enough to accompany her, even if she had her friends Henrietta and Charasin with her. None of the three were serious raiders, either, so their gear weren't up to par.

"Please! Someone!" From behind Maryelle, Henrietta watched worriedly as her friend exhausted herself out of desperation to help Shiroe. She knew why Maryelle was so desperate. Shiroe was a kind-hearted person, but his self-confidence was frail and so he was easily taken advantage of when he was younger. The parties he would be assigned to would use him to get the better gear for themselves, then leave him behind once they got what they wanted. Because of this, he grew to detest his classmates, viewing them as untrustworthy - a logical thought to brew inside of him, but it also caused him to stop trusting other people.

She and Maryelle would take him on raids with them, although most of their classmates saw him to be a bother due to the age and level difference between them. However, with repeated interaction with him, they managed to get him to be slightly more sociable. The depth of his knowledge from reading the books in the library was impressive, making him a good strategist. However, this caused even more people to try and use him or ask him for help, resurfacing his old memories. Maryelle was popular, both for her looks and her personality, so she used this to get them to respect Shiroe and allow him privacy. However, after they graduated, things seemed to have returned to normal, causing Shiroe to become reclusive again.

News that Shiroe had finally left the Academy and was with a group made them both overjoyed, but if they were killed here, Shiroe would probably blame himself for it and just give up again. For that reason, Maryelle was desperate to help them. But nobody was responding to her pleas.

"Why is everyone ignoring this fair lady here?" A male voice drew their attention to behind them. There stood two parties, a total of twelve people. Henrietta could tell some of their classes from their equipment, but noticed that some of them were foreign classes. "What is the problem, young lady?"

"A-ah … please, help me! My friend and his companions are trapped in the forest to the south of this city. They are being hunted by Brigandia, a notorious PK guild. And if they're killed, then …"

"I understand. PKers are the most fun to kill, after all," one of the females spoke up. Henrietta checked her profile. Kamakshi, Female, Wolf Fang, level 120 Rajput, Katyayini. _Rajput … that means they're from a foreign land?_

She seemed to be the leader, since the man who had spoken up earlier asked her, "So are we going?"

"Of course. We're PKKs, after all." PKKs were those who targeted Player Killers, often as a form of revenge and justice.

"Oh, thank you!" Maryelle was so relieved that tears were brimming in her eyes. "I'll take you to where they are."

Now, it was a race against time.

* * *

Since Katyayini is a group I made up for this fan fic, I'll give the profile for its guild master.

**Name:** Kamakshi  
**Level:** 120  
**Race:** Wolf Fang  
**Class:** Rajput  
**Subclass:** Hundred-Man Slayer  
**HP:** 13,428  
**MP:** 11,855  
**Item 1:** Flaming Tiger's Khanda - A sword made of Phantasmal material whose hilt was made of the bones of a Flaming Tiger, a difficult Raid Boss, and a Champion's Flare, material that can only be acquired from a certain PvP event. It will inflict a random debuff at a fixed chance when you land a critical hit. That fixed chance is also quite high.  
**Item 2:** Ceremonial Khanda of Wind - A Production-class sword. However, its relatively common status shouldn't be taken lightly. Even though its attack power isn't as high as rarer ones, it raises one's chance of getting a critical hit quite significantly, so it is powerful when used in conjunction to Flaming Tiger's Khanda.  
**Item 3:** Tiger Summoning Whistle - A rare item acquired from a difficult quest. Summons a tiger as a mount, one of the fastest land-traveling ones in Elder Tale.


	5. Chapter 5: A Desperate Fight

"Root 'em and run, we don't have much time!" At Kanami's command, Dale used Willow Spirit to keep the remaining Warrior and Monk in place and retreated from the battle with the others. Another one of his Shrieker Echo traps was triggered, marking that the enemy was too close to escape from if they took the time to defeat these two enemies.

"Naotsugu reporting! Five enemies sighted, one level 71 Guardian used a taunt! We're going in!"

Kuina snarled inwardly as she ran to join up with the other group. This wasn't good. With a taunt in place, the other team had to fight their enemies. Luckily for them, the ones they had fought weren't very skilled, making them easier to deal with.

"Ritual of the Tensokuhou!" Nazuna cast a buff on the party to allow them to move faster, increasing their distance from their pursuers and shortening their distance from their allies. Their priority was to regroup and defeat the enemies as fast as possible.

Kuina decided to contact Shiroe to get a constant stream of updates. "Mob Glasses! What's the situation over there?!"

"Three of them are over level 60, two are over level 50." _So this one'll be a more difficult fight,_ Kuina assessed. "One Guardian, one Monk, two Assassins, one healer of an unknown class." _And they have more foreigners here than I thought they would_.

"Healer is similar to a Druid!" Anba added to the report.

_They have Healing over Time, huh?_ Druids, and classes in other countries that replaced it, specialized in Healing over Time spells that would gradually recover HP. However, they also had a variety of summons that could be used to attack, as Dale had used copiously to delay their opponents.

"Heyo, Panties Head, I see you! Early Thrust!" Kanami ran over and attacked the healer, her speed boosted by RamMutton's Overrunner. Because she had been away when the Guardian used his taunt, she wasn't affected by it and could freely attack their healer.

Before the Guardian could use another taunt, Aihie attacked the healer from afar with his shortbow. "Fatal Ambush!" With his Poison User subclass, he had his arrows coated in poison, an effective technique against healers and their spells. That proved enough to take out their healer, who slumped over with his blood pooling around him before his body disintegrated into bubbles and sparkles.

"Good job, Aihie!" Kanami refocused on the Guardian, knowing that he would cast another taunt.

"Fortress Stance." A blue aura emitted from the Guardian's foot, signifying the usage of the stance. Naotsugu grit his teeth, knowing full well what it did. Not only did the opposing Guardian's defense increase, he also wouldn't flinch or get pushed back by any of their attacks.

"Has he used Anchor Howl yet?"

"No, just Taunting Shout." Kanami understood what he meant by that. Their enemy still had his most powerful taunt available to him, so they had to be careful of what they did. If he used Anchor Howl, they wouldn't be able to attack his teammates, lest he counterattacked.

"Kanami." Anba and Nazuna looked at her determinedly, conveying a message to her.

She understood. "Hey, Panties Head, how much HP do you have?"

"... Enough."

With that, she lunged towards the Assassin, who was about to use a skill on Suizakura.

"Anchor Howl!" As expected, he used his best taunting skill to prevent the others from targeting his allies. With the green light sucking everyone's attention to him, they were forced to attack him.

"The main force is within 500 meters!" Dale reported.

"... Now!" At Kanami's command, Naotsugu suddenly made a break for the Assassin. Just as quickly, the Guardian loomed over him poised to counterattack. However, as he swung his sword, it was blocked by two barriers. His counterattack foiled, the Guardian glared towards the source of the barriers.

_I understand_, thought Shiroe, who watched it unfold. _Just as Kanami gave him the order, Nazuna and Anba both used Purification Barrier to nullify the damage he would have received. And because I used Nightmare Sphere, which is an area of effect spell, and caught the Assassin with it …_

Spinning his head around, Shiroe confirmed that Naotsugu had indeed struck the Assassin, who had his movements slowed by Shiroe's previously-cast spell. _Now that I think about it though … Naotsugu's - no all of our - movements were really quick._ Thinking about this made him aware of the faint music around him. Glancing to his left, he saw the Bard Whistler smirk as they made eye contact, yellow notes emitting out of his body. He was using the cover song Pavane Dance, which increased the agility and evasion rate of all allies. It was powerful enough to allow even bulky Guardians to evade like Monks did.

"Prayer to the Four Directions!" Before Shiroe could register why Anba had suddenly used one of her emergency spells, he felt powerful blasts of magic. The attacks had been powerful enough to break through one of the Kannagi class's most powerful spells.

The main force had arrived.

* * *

"Hmph. So these are the maggots that have been giving us trouble?" Although he wasn't particularly large, it was easy to tell from a glance who Shambar was and why he was the leader. Looking at his eyes could tell you that he had a keen eye for judging other Adventurers' skills as well as their weaknesses. The maniacal grin he bore was that of one who was desensitized to others' pain and suffering. He bore a kris with an intimidatingly ominous purplish glow as a weapon.

A perfect leader for a PK guild like Brigandia.

_It's over,_ Shiroe thought. Just those attacks alone had more than halved his HP even through Anba's barrier. One more attack would be enough to finish him off.

The roar of a tiger and the rustling leaves made them aware of another group's presence before their attackers could even notice the vines binding their legs. A blinding flash, followed by the clashing of metal on metal, suggested that _someone_ was clashing with Shambar.

When he could see again, Shiroe stared in wonder and confusion at the group standing in front of them. He didn't know who they were or what they were doing -

"SHIRO-BOU~!" Nevermind, he knew now. These were the reinforcements that Maryelle had brought. However, they must have come from a foreign land, since he couldn't recognize the armors some of their members wore.

The woman who had clashed with Shambar was a dark-skinned, black-haired beauty with piercing orange eyes that stood out from the rest of her features and attire. He glanced at her status screen. Kamakshi, Female, Wolf Fang, level 120 Rajput, Katyayini.

"Let's send them back to the Cathedral, my friends," she calmly stated, pointing one of her swords at Shambar.

With that, the battlefield erupted. Dozens of skill names were shouted at once. It was just as Shiroe looked around, overwhelmed by the battle before him, that he noticed that the enemies his group had been struggling with were taken out instantly during the bright flash. It made him feel somewhat pathetic.

A Guardian in the Katyayini, probably the guild's main tank, used Anchor Howl. "Good!" Maryelle stood up to use a spell. "Aurora Heal!"

A Cleric's most powerful healing spell, Aurora Heal covered the area with a dazzling rainbow, healing all allies with its radius. However, because it was so powerful, it was also very draining on her MP and generated a lot of Hate, which was why she waited until the Guardian had used Anchor Howl to heal the injured members of the Tea Party.

Henrietta, who stood behind with some of the back-row healers and mages of Katyayini, was emitting two different colors of musical notes from her body, which meant that she had two cover songs active. Judging by the colors, she was using Prelude Onslaught and Meditation Nocturne, which respectively shortened the cooldown times of skills and increased their MP recovery rate.

"Oi, guys, our fight hasn't ended yet." Kanami stood up confidently, a smirk on her face. "Just because we got rescued from imminent death doesn't mean we can't do anything, can we? Let's pick off the weaklings."

The members of the Tea Party stood up, one-by-one, in agreement. They all wore the same confident grin that she did; it was an infectious part of her personality that resonated within them. The desire to do more than they were, to accomplish beyond what was thought possible, to see sights that people thought they couldn't see.

This time, they'd survive an encounter with the notorious player killing guild, Brigandia.

* * *

Even though there was fighting surrounding them, neither leader of the two guilds had even budged, not even when a blade or spell nearly grazed their cheeks.

"You're no Assassin," the female Rajput commented dryly.

"Ah, that was a false rumor I spread to mislead others about my abilities," the man responded. "What do you think of a duel? No skills. Just weapons and physical prowess." Shambar announced this not because of his confidence in his martial arts, although that contributed, but because the woman before him was worthy of a straight-up, honest duel.

"One support unit each. No offensive spells, pure support." Of course, for a Rajput, who was the Indian replacement for the Swashbuckler class, one-on-one PvP was not her strongest point. However, this way, the duel would also rely on the skill of their support, which could make or break the battle.

"... I agree to those terms. Skorr!" A skinny man reminiscent of a wasp scurried over to his side. "Serve as my support. No attacks, though." The man grinned toothily, his eyes widening out of eagerness as he nodded in agreement.

"Kubera. Provide support for me. No attacks." A young male Enchanter with tanned skin and light blue hair whose collar covered his mouth stared at Shambar expressionlessly, but walked to Kamakshi's side.

Before either side said a word, the duel began. They practically took the battle to the skies, leaping off of trees and rocks as they clashed weapons. The two were practically equal in power, but Shambar had the upper hand.

That was because while Skorr fired off healing spells and other support spells, Kubera had yet to do anything. However, he did not seem perturbed by the way things were turning out, and neither was Kamakshi.

"Ha, are you so afraid of Shambar that you can't even do anything, boy?!" Skorr continuously shot barbs at the young Enchanter who remained motionless, acting as though he hadn't even heard the other man. "What's wrong, boy?! Move! But then again, you're just a feeble Enchanter! Brigandia has no need for the likes of such a foolish Class!"

As the two duelists stopped to catch their breaths, Shambar apologized to Kamakshi for his subordinate's rudeness. "He's rather fiery-tempered, you see."

"It's fine. After all, whoever is the victor here is the best leader as well." The two resumed clashing, sparks flying about them as their weapons made contact with armor or with each other.

Shambar had around twice as much health as Kamakshi had, now, thanks to Skorr's healing spells and his kris' HP-draining effect. However, Kamakshi's Flaming Tiger's Khanda had the ability to deal random debuffs with critical hits, inflicting Shambar with many of them. His attacks were no longer as powerful as they had been, his movements slowed, his kris dulled. Although Skorr constantly healed him of poison and bleeding debuffs, they wouldn't last for long as Kamakshi continued to land critical hits on him and just reapply the debuff.

"Cast on Beat."

"Huh? Finally using a skill, boy?"

"Astral Bind. Keen Edge. Accuracy Support. Reflex Boost. Gain Immunity." Kubera fired off buffs for Kamakshi thanks to Cast on Beat which shortened the cast time of all his skills. Because he was limited to support-only skills, and thanks to the Enchanter's low MP consumption, he could use all of these skills in a short amount of time. In an instant, not only were Shambar's movements restricted, Kamakshi had her attack, accuracy, evasion, and resistance boosted.

"H-hey! S-Symbol of Sacrament!" Panicking, Skorr realized that Kubera had probably also used Haste and probably Overrunner before the battle had begun, meaning that the opposing Guild Master could unleash a barrage of powerful strikes on his own leader. Using the rest of his MP, he placed his gambles on this one spell. _It'll be enough to make him resistant to status debuffs_, he thought.

However, even that hope was crushed. "Negation." The barrier that would have protected Shambar from status debuffs, which had a 24-hour cooldown time, was shattered just as it was erected. Kubera had responded in kind with his own emergency spell, which completely negated one skill.

Shambar was unable to avoid the flurry of attacks Kamakshi unleashed on him, taking the brunt in full. He slumped over as blood trickled down various openings she made in his body before collapsing, defeated.

* * *

"W-what?"

"Who … who are they?!"

"W-wait … I think I recognize them! They're a famous PKK guild, Katyayini, that travels the world in search of more PK guilds to fight!"

Not only was their leader, Shambar, defeated, most of the main force had been defeated by the twelve-man guild and the Tea Party. With their morale depleted, several of the remaining members fled.

"Tch … cowards, the lot 'o 'ya! I'll kill these disgusting pigs! Shambar was … Shambar is …!" A boy slightly older than Shiroe by around one or two years roared at the sky, blind with rage. Two shining thorns from Shiroe's Thorn Bind Hostage were still wrapped around him, one already broken by Nyanta during the fight. Shiroe inferred that Shambar must've been special to him, perhaps a mentor or even a father-figure, considering his reaction to Shambar's defeat.

Shiroe checked his status screen. Demiqas, Male, Human, level 57 Monk, Brigandia.

Shiroe wasn't sure whether to say something to him or not, but the members of Katyayini simply sheathed their weapons and turned to leave.

"Let's go, little ones. It's still unsafe around here."

"If it weren't for you … if it weren't for you-!" Rage boiled out of Demiqas as he blindly charged towards Kanami. However, before he could reach her, Nyanta deftly cut the remaining two thorns on him, which was more than enough to kill him. "I'll remember …"

The Monk's body faded away with the words still on his lips. The remaining members faded away into the woods, too afraid and too weakened to fight back.

The infamous Brigandia was defeated.


	6. Chapter 6: Port City Yokohama

Maryelle and Henrietta bowed to Kamakshi again in thanks. "Thank you so much for helping us!"

"Ah, it wasn't a problem. After all, PKKing is our form of entertainment anyways. Going up against such a renowned PK guild was quite a thrill," she explained.

To the side, RamMutton and Shiroe were having an odd sort of conversation with Kubera, as fellow Enchanters. Although Kubera spoke little, Shiroe found the information from the two more experienced Enchanters to be of great value.

"Eh, Kubera, why do you guys PKK? Is there any particular reason why?"

"Strong PKers must have talent. We want to fight other talented people."

"I-I see …" Although Shiroe couldn't really share the lust for battle that the members of this guild held, he understood that it was their purpose, just like how the Debauchery Tea Party's was to have fun adventuring.

RamMutton peered at Shiroe. "Hey, Shiro, did you see Kubera's battle?"

"Erm, yes?" Shiroe thought it was impossible for him to have missed such a brilliant display of power that highlighted an Enchanter's strengths even if he couldn't use his attack skills.

"Engrave that into your mind. That is the kind of skill you want to strive for. The ability to judge when and how to use spells, to gauge the best time to support allies. Keeping an eye on the battlefield and maintaining control of the situation. This is what Enchanters, and any Support roles, are best for."

"Mistress Durga trained me."

"Hm?"

"Miss Kamakshi's mother. She trained me to use skills."

So they didn't go through an Academy, huh? Shiroe thought with a bit of envy. "So where is she now?"

"Mistress Durga? Disappeared." Although Kubera held appreciation towards the woman for teaching him, the memory of her disappearance didn't disturb him in the slightest.

"Disappeared? How?" Shiroe pressed on, too curious to restrain himself.

"I do not know. She just disappeared one day."

RamMutton added, "It seems to be a natural phenomenon. Once an Adventurer reaches a certain point in life, they just disappear. They're never heard from again. Nobody knows what happened to them or why it happened. It just does."

Shiroe could only stare at him half in horror, half in shock. It was too suspiciously familiar to his experiences and what he had read about the Mass Disappearance. His parents left him at the Academy when he was three years old, then disappeared afterwards. Nearly all of the Pioneer Adventurers vanished during the Mass Disappearance, leaving behind only their descendants.

Was this the fate of all Adventurers? To disappear after their time was up, without warning? To be robbed from the world? Shiroe shivered at the implications.

* * *

"It is rare to see the beautiful twilight princess, Mistress Rayneshia, here at this time of hour. Nevertheless, it is nice to see you again."

A handsome man with chestnut-brown hair and matching eyes, donned in a snow-white, armored coat, eyed Rayneshia. The legendary princess sat meekly in a chair in the waiting room inside the fortress of the Knights of the Red Branch, with her handmaiden Elissa standing besides her. She sipped tea from a teacup that he had handed her.

"You flatter me, Hero of Theldesia," she responded.

"Please. The title 'Hero of Theldesia' is not nearly befitting for someone like me, who is nothing compared to the Adventurers."

"It's because of you that the world was saved from despair after the Mass Disappearance, and that the Ancients were restored, Elias Hackblade."

Elias Hackblade. The most famous Ancient in the world, a Blademancer who wielded the huge two-handed sword Crystal Stream, using the nigh-invincible Fairy Arts that were taught to him by the fairies that had raised him as a youth. After the Mass Disappearance, he gathered a group of remaining fighters to stave off the monsters and re-establish the lost Chivalric Orders. With the help of the Sage of Mirror Lake, the magical researcher ReGan, he revived some of the Ancients that had been sealed away and replaced some others with those who were powerful enough to take the title of Ancient.

Rayneshia was among this "new establishing order," taking on the ability to control Alv technology thanks (and no thanks) to some magical engravings that now rested on her back. "It will be painless," that shifty Sage ReGan had said. _Yeah right. That was a far cry from painless_, Rayneshia muttered to herself inwardly.

Suddenly, a painful jolt caused her to arch her back before slumping into Elias' arms, who had rushed over to catch her.

"Princess Rayneshia!" Elissa shouted her name worriedly.

"It's … him," she muttered weakly. "I can't … that monster …" A dark wispy aura began emitting from the ground, encircling them with a noticeably evil sensation.

"I understand. I will go subjugate him," Elias reassured her. "You can release the seal. Coppelia, provide support."

A petite Cleric wearing a maid outfit whose bangs covered her eyes appeared by Elias' side. "Coppelia is pleased to see the Princess. Do you require any healing?"

"I think protecting Elias is more important," Rayneshia replied as the aura rose above their heads, transporting them into a different area. The area that held the monster.

Although the area looked identical to the room they were just in, it was actually a separate dimension created to keep him from affecting the real world, a symbol of how terrifyingly powerful he was. In the distance, Rayneshia could hear sounds of smashing. He had noticed their presence and was simply plowing through the walls of the fake fortress to get to them.

"Crystal Stream! Blood of my hidden fairy clan! To crush the enemies before me, lend me your strength!" Blue and violet sparkling lights surrounded the three of them, strengthening their defense. Elias' massive sword glowed white in response to the evil energy radiating from the monster. Effortlessly picking it up, he braced himself to attack the monster as soon as it appeared.

"Rose Thorn Bind!" There wasn't much that she could do, but Rayneshia wanted to be as much help as she could. That monster's situation wasn't even her fault, but she still felt guilty for his current state. However, without the help of the Pioneers, her options were much more limited. As the monster crashed through the wall, rose thorns sprang up from the walls and the ceiling, binding him in place as Elias attacked.

"Coppelia will assist. Aria: Argent Chaine." The monster was wrapped in a silver light, dealing Holy damage that he was weak against. Although Argent Chaine didn't deal a large amount of damage, it could blind the target and lower accuracy. Observing Elias' status screen, she added, "Aria: Reactive Heal." It was a Cleric's signature spell, which would automatically heal the target once damage was sustained.

Rayneshia kept an eye on the situation as the two fought. Although this monster was designed for a full raid party to engage, he was only at level 115. Compared to the three of them, who were level 130 and had power even greater than an Adventurer's (to an extent), it was easy enough to subjugate him. After all, they didn't aim to kill him. They only needed him weak enough to be restrained by her spell again.

She needed him to come back. It was impossible for her to gauge how far ahead the Mastermind of the Round Table had laid his plans. The boy that she had met several days prior was, without a doubt, his reincarnation. Even his status screen had told as much.

Did he know, even five hundred years ago, that he would be reincarnated to finish the job he had not yet completed? Was he banking on them keeping this monster in line during that time? Did he even intend to save him? Rayneshia had never been able to read this other kind of monster, the Villain in Glasses, Shiroe. Wherever he was, whatever he had planned all those years ago _… he'd better come back_, Rayneshia cursed in her mind as she gazed at the monster clad in darkness before her.

* * *

Shiroe lay on the bed parallel to the pillow, his legs dangling off the long edge. It felt nice to sleep on a real, soft, plush bed. The members of Katyayini had gone in search of more PK guilds around the area, deciding to explore Japan for a little while. That probably meant they were looking for more fights.

Maryelle, Henrietta, and Charasin were planning on taking them out around the city later, so they were resting to catch up on sleep and recover their HP and MP. While they were going around the city, they were going to restock on potions and supplies, repair gear, and perhaps purchase some more equipment.

Even though he had been lying there for an hour, Shiroe's mind was still racing from all the recent events he had experienced. Picking up his pendant from where it lay at his side, he watched it sway back and forth, trying to remember the circumstances behind how he got it. Since he was very young then, he could really remember much about it. He could recall a hooded woman saying something to him, and then getting it after some time, but nothing else. Her features, her voice, nothing. Sighing, he let his arm fall back down onto the bed.

"Can't sleep, Shiroe-cchi?" Nyanta walked in, with his usual expression, sitting on a chair across from Shiroe's bed.

"No. Too many things have been going on for me to sleep well."

"You shouldn't hold back, but you shouldn't push yourself too hard, nya," the older man advised. "Being too obsessed will distract you from what's truly important. What's necessary is to know your own balance, nya."

"Know … my own balance?"

"That's right, nya. Although I'm the oldest member in the Tea Party, my level isn't significantly higher because my balance was lost, nya. It was a lesson I learned a bit late."

"What … happened?"

Nyanta stood up to leave. "When you get older, Shiroe-cchi, you will find that some things are difficult to move past. To save or to lose … sometimes, you don't have the right to choose. You can either get stuck on it or move on, nya."

Although Shiroe felt like he understood what Nyanta meant, he could only wonder if Nyanta's message _really_ got through to him as he watched Nyanta leave the room.

* * *

Shiroe didn't realize that he had fallen asleep until he woke up, dazedly blinking before sitting up.

"Ah, Shiro-bou, you're awake!" Maryelle sat in the seat next to his bed, where Nyanta had sat before. He wasn't bothered by this, since she had often watched over him as he slept when he had exhausted himself in a raid or by studying too hard. He noticed a beautifully-bound book in her lap, with an ornate design on the cover. However, she had it flipped over and the spine facing herself, so he couldn't tell what it was.

"H-how long was I asleep for, Marie?"

"Oh, it's only been an hour. You weren't asleep that long, don't worry," she assured him. "We're gonna have dinner soon, okay? Curry! Oh, and there are some delicious tofu desserts around the city! It's your favorite food, right?"

Shiroe's eyes gleamed. Tofu had been his favorite ever since he was young, since it absorbed the flavors of other sauces and spices, and he could always eat it, even if he didn't have any appetite.

"Oh, by the way, Marie … what's that book?" He peered curiously at the book as she squirmed embarrassedly.

"A-ah, this? It was a book that I thought would interest you, I bought it a while back and was going to visit the Academy to give this you, but you got here first, haha … it's a book on World History and World-Class Magic." As Shiroe delicately took it from her hands, she continued. "Supposedly, it was written by the Sage of Mirror Lake 500 years ago, ReGan. Of course, there are supplementary books compiled by the more recent Sages, but I thought this one would interest you the most."

Shiroe flipped to the Table of Contents. _Introduction; The End of the Age of the Gods: Destruction of the world at the hands of the rogue AI, Shiva; The First World Fraction: The rise of demi-human monsters; The Second World Fraction: The first Adventurers; The Third World Fraction: The day also known as the Catastrophe_ …

He skipped to the last chapters. _The Mass Disappearance: The price the world had to pay; The Legacy of Shiroe, Chronicler of the East_.

Bingo.

"Marie," Shiroe said, his eyes widening. "This is more than enough. Thank you very much."

"E-eh? It's no problem, Shiro-bou," she said hesitantly, curious worry reflected in her eyes. She knew this expression. It was the one he wore whenever he found something that interested him, which meant that he'd obsess over it until he was satisfied.

"Ah, you gave him the book already, Marie?" Henrietta walked in and stood next to Maryelle. "Actually," she said, turning to Shiroe, "I skimmed the book out of curiosity myself. You'll like this book, Shiroe. After all, ReGan worked personally with the Shiroe whom you were named after and closely followed his exploits. He was also closely tied to the World Restoration after the the Mass Disappearance and worked with the 'new establishing order' to help make the world what it is today."

All this new information was making Shiroe dizzy. As much as he wanted to pore over the book, he had other things to do for now. He got off the bed and stretched a bit to wake himself up.

"Ready, Shiro-bou?"

"Yeah." The three of them went out for dinner, where the others were chatting as they waited for everyone to gather around.

* * *

After dinner, Maryelle offered to show them around the city. They went through popular spots and some hidden ones that most tourists would overlook. She took them to the Adventuring Market, an area specifically designed for selling items to Adventurers about to embark on quests and raids.

As Shiroe was looking for a new cloak to wear, he felt someone bump into him. Looking down, he saw a young Elf girl looking up at him.

"A-ah, s-sorry," he began, although wasn't exactly sure why _he_ was the one apologizing. However, the girl ran off with tears brimming in her eyes without even responding. "Um …"

"Nia! C'mon Nia, coming here was your - oh, what happened?" Shiroe followed the girl with his eyes, seeing her duck behind a Wolf Fang Samurai that was about his age.

_Minimize the damage, minimize the damage …_ Although Shiroe didn't really want to approach him, he decided that explaining himself would be better than her possibly rattling something and causing a fight.

"Ah, s-sorry," he began once again, but the Samurai waved him off.

"Nah, it's fine, it's not your fault," the Samurai explained, grinning. He patted the girl's head, with her squeezing her eyes shut in response. "Pianississimo here is way too shy for her own good. You're still a little crybaby, isn't that right?"

Although he was teasing her like that, she didn't seem to mind, and allowed him to pick her up, nestling her face into his shoulder.

"Oh, and by the way, the name's Ragoumaru. Most people call me Ran, though. Here, lemme add you to my Friends List."

"I-I'm Shiroe. I'll do the same." As he added Ragoumaru and Pianississimo to his Friends List, Shiroe couldn't help but notice the Elf playing with Ran's ears. Although Wolf Fangs had the option of hiding their ears, he didn't, and it very honestly made him look like a dog. The structure of his nose wasn't helping, either.

"Puppy has a lot of friends …" she muttered as she stroked one of his ears. _Did … did she legitimately just call him "Puppy"?! So it's not just me, then …_

"That's right, Nia, having lots of friends is good!" Looking back at Shiroe, he asked, "By the way, you're around my age, right? Are you from an Academy?"

"Eh? That's right, I just graduated from the Academy of Urumiya a couple of days ago …"

"Ah? Urumiya? I've heard of that place!" Ran beamed, although Shiroe wasn't sure why. "I heard that a member of the Code family works there. In fact," he leaned in closer to Shiroe, "I think I've had an encounter with one of them too!"

"Eh?"

Ran set Pianississimo down to tell his story. "So me and a couple of guys from our Academy, Nia included, were out fighting monsters. Then, outta nowhere," he waved his arms dramatically to emphasize his point, "this HUGE monster appears! It was a level 82 field boss! We all thought we were gonna die, but then all these different fwooshy things came down and went fwah! Fwah!" He continued waving his arms, trying to depict something he couldn't exactly describe. "-And then it was killed! I didn't get a really good glimpse of who it was, but I'm pretty sure it was a woman. A Summoner. She left right after she saved us, so we didn't get to talk to her, but the only person I've ever heard of having such cool magic powers was the famous Rundelhous Code!"

"... P-Puppy … you're bad at telling stories," she remarked after he had finished.

"I-I'm not that bad am I?!"

"... V-very bad …"

"Ack! A-anyways, coming here was your idea, wasn't it? What did you want again?" Hastily trying to ignore her harsh words, Ran attempted to change the subject.

She pointed at a cloak next to the one Shiroe had been looking at before. _Ah, so that's what she was after_ … After checking its properties, he deducted that since the cloak itself didn't provide anything extraordinary, she probably just wanted it for its cute look and fuzzy texture.

"Ah, geez!" Ran pressed his palm against his forehead. "You made me cancel my plans and take the time to get here for a _fuzzy cloak_?! We have the same thing back at the Academy, Nia!" Looking at her displeased face, he quickly amended, "Alright, we have something _like_ it!"

"Purple! Fuzzy!" They figured that she was very adamant on the color and texture of this cloak, which was obviously hand-crafted and was probably a unique style to whoever made it. Looking closely, Shiroe noted that it was a rather unique style. It was improper to call it a cloak, but it also wasn't a jacket; it had wide sleeves but was only fastened at the top, near the collar, and had a hood.

"Fine, fine, I'll get it for you!" Ragoumaru huffed as he went to the vendor. He came back with a purple, fuzzy cloak in hand. "Oh, Nia, you're not afraid of him anymore?"

Shiroe hadn't realized that the small Elf was hiding behind him, so he was a bit startled. Peering at him curiously, she gave his sleeve two small tugs, twitching one of her ears at the same time. He wasn't aware that Elves could control their ears like that, but it was cute.

"That's her way of saying she's not afraid of you."

"O-oh, okay …" Shiroe watched as Ragoumaru helped Pianississimo get into the cloak. It was big for her, though, the sleeves extending past her hands and the body of the cloak reaching mid-thigh when it really was supposed to end at her waist. She looked at Ran questioningly.

"It's the only one they had, okay? You'll just have to wait until you're big enough to wear it." Although he tried taking it off, she refused to let him, so he gave up. "Anyways, we have to head back, or Willy's going to have a fit."

"A-ah, what Academy are you from?" Shiroe asked, out of curiosity. He was curious as to how other Academies operated; he could tell from his conversations with the other Tea Party members that each Academy operated its own way.

"Hm? We're from the Academy of Tsukuba."

Tsukuba. _That's where the Headmaster told me to go_ … "Um, the College?"

"Oh, that? Nah, the College is just a huge research facility, kids like us can't get in without some sort of special reason or connection. Why?"

"N-no, it's no matter," Shiroe hastily replied. Ragoumaru gave him a dubious look, but decided that it was best not to question too much.

"Well, if you ever want to visit, come to Tsukuba!" The two waved goodbye as the headed towards the Transport Gate.

Maryelle, Nyanta, and Naotsugu separated themselves from the crowd and went up to Shiroe. "I'm so proud of you, Shiro-bou!" Maryelle grabbed Shiroe and wrapped him a too-tight embrace.

"P-proud about … what, Marie? I-I-I … can't … breathe …" He tried to break free, but she only squeezed him tighter and nuzzled him more.

Finally letting go, she replied, "Back in the Academy, you could barely make a proper conversation, but now you can easily talk to strangers! You have really good friends~."

He grinned sheepishly, scratching his cheek. "Well, it wasn't that easy. Besides, if there's anyone to thank, it's you, Marie. You stood up for me even when it got scary."

Maryelle didn't seem to have listened to him, but she suddenly perked up as if she remembered something. "Hey, Shiro-bou, aren't you turning fifteen in a couple of days?"

Oh, right, birthdays. "Um, yeah. I think it's next week, actually." He had completely lost track of the time and the seasons, partially because of being indoors most of the time. It was already November. Although it wasn't particularly chilly for him, one's resistance to temperature changes depended on level. _Maybe that's why Nia wanted a cloak … she's lower-leveled and gets cold easier than higher-level Adventurers._

Out of nowhere, Maryelle grabbed his wrist and pumped it in the air. "Yeah! Let's have a week-long birthday celebration, then! A party for graduating from the Academy and for your fifteenth birthday!"

"H-hey, Marie, don't decide something like that on your own!"

Maryelle skipped away to gather preparations for a party, completely ignoring Shiroe as Nyanta and Naotsugu laughed.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Coppelia, Elias Hackblade, Ragoumaru, and Pianississimo are all canon characters. Ran and Pianississimo appear in volume 7/S2 (probably will be background characters since they don't play a huge part anyways), and Coppelia and Elias appear in the side-story that will be volume 9.


	7. Chapter 7: The Rose and the Kunie

Rayneshia lay on a bed, asleep, having drained all her energy suppressing the monster. Elissa tidied up the room and Elias performed maintenance on Crystal Stream as Coppelia watched. Neither of their equipment had been severely damaged in the fight, which was a relief. The grandfather clock by the door ticked loudly, nobody drowning out its noise with their voice.

"Miss Coppelia," Elias began, having completed maintenance.

"Simply 'Coppelia' is fine."

"I will call you Miss Coppelia, thank you." After a slight pause, he continued, "We can't continue doing this, can we." It wasn't a question, simply an observation. He casually picked up his greatsword, inspecting it to make sure that he had repaired everything.

"Coppelia thinks that it will be difficult for the Princess to keep doing this every month. The monster has been getting more and more active lately."

Elias waved away his sword, then leaned back in his chair, gazing at the ceiling in thought.

"Are you feeling unwell? Do you require healing?"

"No, Miss Coppelia, I'm fine," he replied. Without moving, he added, "Miss Coppelia, Miss Elissa, do you believe it's true? The Pioneers are really being reincarnated?"

"Coppelia believes that you would be the best to confirm this. Elias trained the reincarnation of Master, after all, so you had the first contact with the reincarnations."

"I also believe that they reincarnated," Elissa added. "Princess Rayneshia and I met, without a doubt, the younger versions of the Pioneers we know. They are most likely reincarnations."

"Who did you meet?"

"Mr. Shiroe, Mr. Naotsugu, and Miss Kanami. There are others whom I am not familiar with." Elissa narrowed her eyes. "I do not recollect them being present between the times of the May Revolution and the Mass Disappearance. However, if Sheiola's theory is correct, then …"

"... The avatars of those who were inactive during the May Revolution were included in the reincarnation cycle," Elias finished. "But whose ki is inside those bodies? Were the souls of those players sucked into this world …?"

"They may be the same case as Coppelia and Roe2," the Cleric piped up. "Their bodies have a ki that was created through the 'memories' their bodies retained. Although neither Roe2 nor Coppelia have a ki from the world of the Adventurers, we still live and breathe and are capable of thoughts."

"Residual magic from Alven technology, perhaps? If they were capable of creating demihumans, perhaps they could recreate one's ki? But even if that were so, when could such a thing have -"

"The ceremony that Princess Rayneshia performed to take control of Alv technology. To assist in it, the energy that she used … was an Adventurer's. To be specific, Mr. Krusty's, before he vanished again. Mr. Shiroe also devised the spell, which also must have contributed."

Elias sat back upright, resting an elbow on his knee. "So you're suggesting that, perhaps, using an Adventurer's energy, it created a link that gave even inactive bodies ki?"

"I think that's what happened. However, without 'him', proving our theories will be much more difficult ..."

Elias raised his hand to silence her. "We cannot worry about that right now, Miss Elissa. Right now, we should perform research on whether or not the Adventurers have reincarnated. Miss Coppelia, may you use the Coppelia Network to see if Leonardo has reincarnated in the Land of Wen? And if you may excuse me, I will observe the movements of monsters around Yamato."

"Certainly." With that, the Cleric and Blademancer left, closing the door behind them, leaving Elissa alone in the room with Rayneshia.

Glancing at the Princess' figure, Elissa sighed. "Would you stop pretending to be asleep? This has to do with you as well."

Discovered, Rayneshia rolled onto her back, staring at the canopy above her head. "Hey, Elissa … what if I hadn't done the ceremony? If I didn't do it, then …"

Although Elissa understood Rayneshia's anguish, there was only so much she could advise on. "Princess, thoughts like these are useless. We just did what was best for this world. Regardless, we need to take responsibility for our actions by restoring it to normal as we intended. Currently, Roe2 is working with the Coppelia Network to search for any similar cases."

"... I know." Looking out the window, she sullenly commented, "As usual, I'm only a bother and can't do anything right, can I?"

It was useless to try and reassure her, so Elissa remained silent. Listening to the steady ticking of the clock, gazing out the window in an equally sullen mood as her mistress, she was startled when two soft knocks resounded from the door. Coppelia entered the room, her turquoise eyes reflecting a troubled demeanor.

"Pardon my intrusion. The Eastal nobles have called an emergency meeting and are already on their way to the Fortress of the Izumo Knights. Likewise, Kinjo has every intention of attending the meeting."

* * *

Naotsugu sat on a bench with Maryelle, who looked glum. Normally, seeing a woman like her in such a state would make anyone try and comfort her, but there wasn't really anything that he could say right now. After all, the reason why she was so downcast was because Henrietta's verdict was that "We can't hold Shiroe back and he's already wasted enough time here in Koorima, so stop partying." As a result, she cut the party down from one week to three days.

Feeling awkward being alone with a woman who was still a stranger to him, Naotsugu attempted to start some sort of conversation. "Say, Miss Maryelle, where are you planning on going now?"

She perked up, propping herself up to face him. "Me? Well, me, Umeko, and Charasin were thinking about heading to Akiba. Charasin has always been interested in business and has some experience in it thanks to his mentor over in Urumiya. It's a huge Adventurer City too, so it must have something fun to do!"

"Speaking of this Charasin guy, who is he? I've never seen him even though he's always been mentioned."

"Ah, stupid me!" Maryelle jokingly bopped herself on the head a couple of times. "I've always been talking about him, and didn't even say who he was. Charasin is our classmate from the Academy of Urumiya, so I've went raiding a couple of times with him. I'm not very good at it, though, so I probably won't join any big raiding guild. He's a Summoner, so he's a pretty reliable ally."

There was nothing to say, so Naotsugu just nodded. To be honest, he wasn't very good with women. Did he like panties? Sure. Was he good at dealing with the ones who wore them? No.

"Hey, Maryelle!" A voice unfamiliar to Naotsugu called out from another room. At the sound, Maryelle stood up excitedly.

"Ah, Charasin, great timing!" She waved when a young man around their age entered the room they were sitting in. "Ah, Charasin, this is Naotsugu, a new friend of Shiroe's. I've already talked about you with him," she explained as Charasin greeted Naotsugu with a nervous, self-conscious chuckle. "That's right, Charasin, what did you want to do in Akiba again?"

"Ah, um, w-well," Charasin stammered, "I-I was thinking about setting up a supply guild there, where you, um, buy and sell materials."

"Materials …?" Suddenly, a devilish gleam appeared in Naotsugu's eyes. "Would you have the materials to make p-"

A sudden whack from a thrown folding fan interrupted Naotsugu's sentence. Anba stood at the doorway, glaring at him crossly. "So that's where you were, Naotsugu! We're going already! Sorry for his behavior," she directed at the confused Maryelle and Charasin as she dragged Naotsugu away.

The two of them followed Anba out to the front of the Inn, where the rest of the Tea Party had gathered in preparation to leave.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Let's go, guys, it's time to hit the road!" Almost as if they had never been attacked by Brigandia, Kanami boldly pointed towards the direction of the dungeon they had set off to go to.

"Kanami, we should still be careful," Kazuhiko reminded her. "Even if you're excited about this, we have to pay attention to our surroundings. We were overconfident last time in our ability to defeat Brigandia. If we run into a similar situation again, there's no guarantee that we can be rescued like we were then."

_That's right … I have to get stronger! Stronger than I am now,_ Shiroe reminded himself. _This whole expedition is for me to level up, so I definitely can't let them down!_

"It shouldn't be long before we reach the raid dungeon," Kuina informed them. "We should probably use mounts to cover the distance faster, since we lost some days at Koorima." She glared at Shiroe, probably for involving the party-loving Maryelle in the situation. "You have one, right, Mob Glasses?"

"Y-yeah …" In almost all Academies, students would undertake a quest that gave them a summoning whistle as a reward, which would call forth a horse to ride on. Urumiya was no different. By now, Shiroe had figured out that the Tea Party rarely ever used transport gates. Kanami preferred seeing sights for herself and usually just traveled by land to get to her next destination.

Shiroe sighed. This was going to be quite a trip, and he hadn't even started on getting to Tsukuba yet.

"Take care of yourself, Shiroe," Henrietta reminded him, her hands crossed loosely at her chest. Charasin just nodded in agreement.

"Have a nice trip, Shiro-bou! Hey, Naotsugu, add me to your friends list!"

"Will do!" Naotsugu saluted as they began riding off on their horses.

Shiroe just meekly waved goodbye at his sending-off party while Maryelle waved as if her hand would fall off.

* * *

Within the fortress of the Izumo Knights, Yamato's Chivalric Order, Rayneshia stood still as Elissa and some other maids finished dressing her up. Although she found these lavish, grandiose dresses to be a pain, she still was more comfortable in these than she was in the ridiculously thin, short, skin-baring pieces of _cloth_ (they could not be dignified as a skirt) that the Pioneers had brought. She thought about the embarrassing outfit she had to wear 500 years ago, when she legendarily requested the Adventurers to protect Eastal from the hordes of thousands of monsters. In her reminiscing, she must have squirmed, because Elissa immediately told her, irately, to stop moving around.

"Kinjo will be arriving soon, Princess," Elissa informed her, picking up from where she had left off before she had chided Rayneshia for moving.

"And the Eastal Lords are currently in the waiting room?"

"That is correct." After a bit of hesitation, she continued, "Princess, if these two parties are seeking you out, then …"

"They are concerned about this world. I can't blame them, since we are as well. There are too many things that are happening and too many that aren't." Rayneshia narrowed her eyes. "And I'm worried about what they are plotting. Kinjo is more straightforward with me, however, politics … has never been my specialty in the slightest."

It was a truth she had known from the beginning. Even after 500 years, Lander politics remained a male-dominated activity, although there were certainly more females in positions of power. Although she was an Ancient, Rayneshia couldn't count herself as one of them. As she saw it, she was only there for the nobles to fall back on, to rally around as a figure. In fact, most people, whether Lander or Adventurer, weren't even aware that she was still alive - though, perhaps that was for the best.

One of the maids informed her that she was done getting dressed, so she took several steps to get a feel of the dress. It felt a bit tight around the waist, but Elissa probably did it on purpose so that she would both look better and stay awake during the meeting.

She stepped into the meeting room, where Elias and Yamato's Coppelia - distinguished by her lavender eyes, compared to "Elias'" Coppelia, who had turquoise eyes - stood, also dressed up for this event. Coppelia was still in a maid outfit, but the collar of the dress was designed to resemble a kimono's. Her pinafore also had more intricate designs on them. On the other hand, Elias wore a tuxedo that matched Rayneshia's gown; this was probably by Elissa's machinations.

Two maids drew back the curtains, sunlight shining on the backs of her two fellow Ancients. Delicately, she took her place in a large, plush chair that overlooked the meeting table. This was her figurehead throne, so that nobles could act high-and-mighty because they had been in the presence of the legendary "Twilight Princess". Using her ability in the area, roses appeared, decorating the space with vibrant shades of color.

"Are you ready, Princess Rayneshia?"

"... Yes." She closed her eyes and relaxed as Coppelia went to fetch the guests. She promptly returned with five nobles and their aides behind her.

"Right this way, please," she gestured towards the seats.

"Welcome," Elias announced. "I see that everyone is here. Please, take a seat." Elias took his place at the end of the table, with Rayneshia overlooking them from behind. Interestingly enough, Elias seemed to have no intention of waiting for Kinjo to arrive. For whatever reason, she noticed, he hadn't taken a liking to the Kunie clan's leader.

A bulbous, balding man with a bright red mustache sauntered over to the long table. "I can't believe such proud, noble Ancients like yourselves allow such a _tool_ in your presence," he sneered, obviously directing this verbal remark at Coppelia. Ignoring the glares of Rayneshia and Elias, he continued, "Even allowing her to fight by your side and treating her with an Ancient title, really, doesn't that say something about your status as an -"

"Take that back." All eyes turned to Rayneshia. Although she didn't want to get meddled into their affairs, such a comment about Coppelia would not do. "Take back your statement about Coppelia."

She didn't know it, but her "I-really-just-want-a-nap" pose, in this attire and lighting, made her look like an imposing, bored queen who had no qualms with executing whoever went against her will.

"U-uh …"

"As a noble of the Eastal League, you are an embarrassing display of ignorance and stupidity," she continued, furrowing her brows. "I may be an Ancient, but I am still a proud member of the Corwen family. Such a display is absolutely unacceptable, especially in such a crucial time. Terrus Ain-Arde Corwen," she turned to a man in his early forties. He was the current family head, a descendant of her brother, Icelus. Upon hearing his name called, Terrus' hair stood on its end. "I hope you do not stain the Corwen name."

"Y-yes, my lady," he responded curtly.

"Where did I leave off at? Ah, right, about Coppelia. Surely you know that being an Ancient isn't simply a title just given to us, correct? It is a privilege bestowed upon us by the leader of the Kunie Clan, a symbol that we are protectors of this land. And Coppelia has done a wonderful job at that; no, even more than that. It is because of the Coppelia Network that we are able to keep in contact with people in other lands." Ignoring Elissa's agitated whispers to stop, Rayneshia stood up, gesturing as if she were cutting down something in the air. "And furthermore! Coppelia is my friend! Even if she is a 'cloned puppet' or a 'fake Lander', I won't have anyone speak of her in such a disrespectful manner! If you can't agree to that statement, we have no need for you in our presence!"

After a moment of silence, Rayneshia fell back into her chair with a huff. She noticed that Coppelia herself had left.

She momentarily returned, breaking the silence with, "Coppelia appreciates your support, Princess, but the last guest has arrived." Behind her stood the stoic, proud Kinjo, leader of the Kunie Clan.

Even to Rayneshia, who was now an immortal Ancient, Kinjo was beyond her understanding. By all indications, he was a normal Lander that had the ability to maintain and operate some of the Alv's magical technology. However, he was able to survive for the 500 years after the Mass Disappearance. While she had aged five years between the May Revolution and the Mass Disappearance, Kinjo hadn't changed since she had met him to defend Akiba from the murderer. She wasn't sure _what_ he did, but it was beyond her comprehension. Furthermore, he could turn Landers into Ancients, which didn't seem to be a power derived from the Alv's technology, since she couldn't do it even with her abilities. For these reasons, Kinjo was a figure that she both revered and feared. He was relatively friendly to her - taking control of Alv magic seemed to have placed a damper on their relationship, but he wasn't outright antagonistic towards her yet - but nevertheless, he was also a monster in his own right.

"It is nice to see you again, Princess of the Corwen Family," he smiled, although it was a practiced smile that only served to conceal his intentions. _He really is here for me, isn't he?_ Rayneshia returned his smile with her own.

"With everyone here now, shall we begin?" Elias waved to the seats, inviting everyone to sit down - while facing Rayneshia's anger, they had been too awestruck to move. After everyone had taken a seat, he continued, "This emergency meeting has been called since the nobles of Eastal have concerns about this world."

"To start," Terrus continued, "we have heard rumors that the Pioneers are possibly being reincarnated into this world. Mr. Elias, do you have any concrete proof of this?"

Elias clasped his hands on the table. "Although we have conclusive proof that people who look like the Adventurers have indeed reappeared in this world, we have nothing to confirm that they are reincarnations in all aspects. I personally trained the woman who was my former leader, Kanami, until she was nine. Princess Rayneshia and Miss Elissa have had direct contact with several Pioneers, such as Naotsugu, Kanami again, and the legendary Shiroe."

The last name created excitement in the air amongst the nobles. Rayneshia furrowed her brows worriedly. She could tell what this emotion was. Anticipation, as if awaiting the return of a savior. Although she was also guilty of it, she felt that the nobles were placing too many expectations on the young Shiroe. Of course, Shiroe had saved Yamato with his actions; this was recorded in the archives, although he had made precise care to cover up his existence in common everyday history. However, there was no telling if this "Shiroe" was the same as the Villain in Glasses of the past. Even if he was, the man she had known was much more experienced than the boy she had met. There was no saying that this new "Shiroe" would grow into the genius mastermind of his previous self.

"The Chronicler of the East, Shiroe?!" one noble blurted out.

"The one who saved Yamato from destruction at the hands of the Genii, right?" another asked.

Murmurs like these arose among the nobles and their assistants. Kinjo's face, like usual, revealed none of his thoughts, nor did he make a sound. For that matter, he never spoke at the meetings he did attend. Elias had always hated that. Rayneshia wasn't sure how to take Kinjo's current apathetic demeanor. Either he was pleased by what he heard, was ambivalent about it, or was already beginning to plot something. His relationship with Shiroe in the past was rocky at best, so there was no saying what he would try and do now.

Terrus cleared his throat. "Well, that, of course, isn't our only concern. We all know that throughout history, as monsters grow stronger and create new bases, Adventurers are granted the ability to become stronger by having a raised level cap. This phenomenon usually occurs every 24 to 12 years. It even continued after the May Revolution. However, it has not occurred in the past 83 years, which is a cause of major concern. Both our scouts and Adventurers that assist us have confirmed that new monsters are still appearing and that new dungeons have appeared in various locations within the normal times."

A thin, intellectual-looking noble piped up, "The monsters' levels have also been increasing. Some of my troops were wiped out when they inadvertently entered the lair of a level 127 monster. Adventurers reach their limit at level 120. If the levels keep increasing like this, then even the Adventurers won't be enough …"

Elias raised his hand to stop him from continuing. "Where is this monster located? Removing it will take priority. I will send some Ancients to at least temporarily put an end to it. If Princess Rayneshia's power is gracious to us, perhaps she will be able to seal it for a while to prevent Adventurers and Landers from wandering in and getting killed."

As Rayneshia thought, the man's true intention was just to get assistance, since he simply responded with the location with a satisfied smile. Of course, the point he raised was a valid one, but even so, he thought more for himself than for the betterment of Yamato.

Soon, the nobles began returning to more mundane issues that didn't require her attention. Watching them discuss and occasionally bicker over state issues, she eventually noticed Kinjo glancing at her. _So he still wants to see me after this, doesn't he,_ Rayneshia thought with a sigh. _These meetings have been becoming more and more frequent since the monster's outbursts have been occurring more frequently as well … _

It had been centuries since she acquired this power, but she she still felt awkward being touched by a man she barely knew. She didn't even have to undress or anything, he just had to touch the area between her collarbones with his index finger to examine the magic flowing through her body and make sure that the sigils engraved in her back were working properly. The examination itself only took two to five seconds as well, so it wasn't that he was touching her for a long time, either. She visited him at least once a year; by now, they were meeting once a month. She _should_ have been accustomed to it by now. But she wasn't.

Deciding that she was thinking too much about things beyond her control, she went back to daydreaming about her soft plush bed. Soon after, she heard Elias announcing the end of the meeting. As the nobles left, led along by Coppelia, she waved them goodbye almost mechanically, in a practiced fashion. Rising from her chair, she turned to Kinjo with a somewhat apologetic "I'll just change out of this, if you don't mind," to which he only responded with a small nod.

Elissa changed her into a more demure, simple white dress and let her hair down. Rayneshia breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be out of the thick dress. Noticing Elissa's concerned glance as she was about to leave, she turned back to her handmaiden.

"Princess Rayneshia, are you okay with being alone again?" Usually, she was alone with Kinjo when he performed the checkup. Neither of them had ever even said anything like "Don't come near us" or "We need privacy" because it was such a short operation, but for whatever reason, Elissa always demanded they be alone and made sure that nobody disturbed them for the five seconds that they needed.

"Elissa, my checkups with Kinjo aren't all that private. You could stand around and it wouldn't even matter."

"Master Kinjo seems to be a rather private man."

"Well, he came here, so he would only have himself to blame," Rayneshia retorted. She just wanted this over as fast as possible. Exiting the changing room, she noticed Coppelia standing on the balcony alone, overlooking the scenery outside. She usually only did this when she was upset or displeased, so Rayneshia decided to join her outside. "Coppelia?"

The Cleric turned around at the sound of her name. She was clasping her hands so tightly that they had turned white. Rayneshia wrapped her own hands around the other girls' and looked at her.

"Coppelia, don't mind those inconsiderate men. Even if 'Coppelia' wasn't like the other Pioneers and was just some sort of … bot in their world, it doesn't matter here! You're as real as anyone else. And you're my friend! Nobody will tell me otherwise, no matter how powerful or important they are! In their world, I wasn't real either. But here, we're real, we're living and breathing just like everyone else. We think for ourselves, we know what's right and what's wrong. Don't let some people who act high-and-mighty make you think that you're less than you really are!"

Rayneshia wasn't really sure what she was even saying. Like usual, she was just speaking with of her emotions like the troublesome girl she was, who always made more problems by doing so. But this was all the truth.

"I -"

"Ah, there you are, Princess Rayneshia." Spinning her head around, Rayneshia saw Kinjo at the doorway, his hand resting on the doorframe. Had he overheard everything? Was there anything important that she had said? Hesitantly, she drew her hands away from Coppelia's, and the troubled girl left the two Landers alone.

As Kinjo approached her, she sat down on a bench and stared at the walls of the fortress, not turning to look at him. For some reason, she could never bring herself to look at him during the process. Momentarily, she felt a cool finger press on her skin and felt a strong magic presence. Even now, she was amazed that this was her's. She was apparently the descendant of a famous figure in Yamato history, who had an affinity for magic; it had just been dormant until it was forcefully awakened by the ritual she performed to control Alv technology.

After Kinjo removed his finger, she felt slightly fatigued. It had been too long since she had begun these checkups, but she couldn't remember the fatigue being there until around a hundred or so years ago. Then again, it was such a routine that she found it hard to remember details about it. The sensation was barely there, so she quickly recovered from it.

"Thank you, Kinjo."

After a momentary pause, he responded with, "Is something wrong, Rayneshia?"

"Eh?"

"You seem to be worried." Following his stare, she found that she was holding tightly onto the fabric of her skirt. Embarrassed by her lack of control, she slowly loosened her fists.

"It's … nothing important. I'm just worrying over nothing again," she reassured him with a smile. "I probably just need some fresh air after that stuffy meeting," she further explained, feeling a refreshing breeze flow through the air.

He bowed his head slightly, leaving her with, "I hope you will be well." Gazing at his retreating figure, she waited until a minute after Kinjo was gone to slowly raise her hand, which had been balled into a light fist again.

In it contained a slip of paper that Coppelia had clasped in her hands earlier, which Rayneshia had retrieved when she held Coppelia's hands. Cautiously, she unraveled the crumpled paper to read its contents.


	8. Chapter 8: Z-539 Raid

Shiroe stretched, having woken up at the crack of dawn to read the book Maryelle and Henrietta had given him. He hadn't had the opportunity to read much of it since they had been traveling for the past couple of days, but now he could finally get around to it. Sitting down, leaning against a tree near their encampment, he flipped to the chapter about the man he was named after, summoned a Magic Light to illuminate the page, and began reading.

Two pages into "Shiroe's" history later, and he was already confused. It wasn't from the idea that "Shiroe" was from a different world; it was an easy concept to _understand_, just one that was hard to _believe_. The part that confused him was how similar "Shiroe" was to himself despite being two different people who grew up in two different environments.

He led a "normal" Adventurer life - was born, sent to an Academy with other Adventurer children to receive training and an education, then decided to travel around, which was where he was at now. By contrast, "Shiroe" was raised by his parents, attended some mandatory education where he went to and from for the majority of the week, and then went on to get more education in Engineering. He never completed said education because of the Catastrophe, after which he decide to improve this world.

If he was just named and modelled after the infamous Villain in Glasses, there was no reason for them to have so many similarities in personality. As far as he was concerned, his parents couldn't choose his personality; that would be just creepy, anyways. However, both "Shiroe" and himself were introverts that spent almost all their time in the library reading and studying, who also hated being a bother to other people. They both wanted to help others, but hated being used like a tool; similarly, they both despised corruption and oppression.

_Maybe it's just me,_ Shiroe reassured himself. _A lot of people are the same way, so it's probably just a coincidence._

Engrossed his thoughts, he only heard a crackling of leaves before someone grabbed him from behind. Before he could shout out in surprise, the person pressed a slim, pale finger to her lips. It was Nazuna, who was leaning on his back lazily, her arms over his shoulders and her head right next to his. Shiroe could feel his cheeks getting flushed. The only person who ever got so close to him was Maryelle, and that was when she clamped him in a tight death hug.

"Hello~," she greeted him in a sing-song voice. Peering at the open book in his lap, she asked, "What'cha readin', Shiroe?"

"Eh, well, it's the history book that Maryelle and Henrietta gave me."

"I see." She flipped to the previous page, which was the chapter page. On it was "Shiroe" in large letters, with a portrait of him below. The caption read that he was wearing the Round Table Alliance's official uniform. The portrait was a photograph, a kind of magical image-creating ability developed by the Pioneers based off of technology they had in their old world. The photographer was the guildmaster of Moonlight Image Store, a famous guild who developed that magic with the help of Scribes and Alchemists. It had long disbanded, but it was often mentioned in history courses and even had books dedicated to them, some of which Shiroe had read back in Urumiya.

"He looks like you," Nazuna pointed out, poking the photograph with her long fingers. "Your parents must have been big fans of him if they made you look almost exactly like him."

"I guess so. Hey, Nazuna?" Thinking of his parents reminded him of something. "Did you ever meet your parents?"

"Nope," she curtly replied. "I lived in an Academy my whooole life until I graduated. Actually, let's see." She got off Shiroe, sitting normally next to him, turning her gaze towards the other sleeping figures of the Tea Party members. "Hmm … out of all of us … the only ones who weren't raised in an Academy their whole lives are … Kanami, KR, and … that's it."

Shiroe peered at the Tea Party's de facto leader, who was snoring softly with a silly grin plastered on her face. "Actually, that explains a lot about her."

An amused smile creeped onto Nazuna's face. "Oh? How so?"

"The way she fights is … how do I say this, unconventional, I guess? She always just charges straight into battle without waiting for anyone, even if she doesn't know how they fight. Usually, that gets everyone killed, but it works out fine with her."

"-At least, that's what they taught us in the Academy, was what you were gonna say, right?" she continued. "One thing that you'll definitely learn in the Tea Party," she drawled, her phantom tails flicking back and forth lazily, "Is that we totally defy some of the things you've learned in the Academy."

"Like … what?" Shiroe couldn't tell if the racing of his heart was out of fear, anticipation, or both.

However, she only vaguely replied with, "You'll see~" before leaving to go off somewhere else. Looking back down at his book, Shiroe continued reading. ReGan didn't put much information about the Villain in Glasses' life prior to the Catastrophe, but he felt that it was to be expected. After all, it didn't seem like he cared all too much about the world he came from, and found this world more enticing. He was among those who elected to remain in this world even after a way to return to their own world was made possible. In fact, he was rumored to be among those who orchestrated it, with the help of Princess Rayneshia and the brave Guardian Krusty.

"_With his two companions, the Guardian Naotsugu and the Assassin Akatsuki, Shiroe traveled to the Adventurer City of Susukino to rescue a young Druid named Serara, who was a member of the Crescent Moon Alliance, a small guild run by Shiroe's friends, the Cleric Maryelle and the Bard Henrietta."_

Shiroe stared at the page blankly. Akatsuki and Serara were two names he didn't know, but Naotsugu, Maryelle, and Henrietta? Blinking his eyes several times before rereading the passage, Shiroe verified that he wasn't imagining things. Their names were definitely there, and even their classes were the same, too. Remembering that there were also chapters dedicated to them, he flipped to the chapter titled "Crescent Moon Alliance". Sure enough, a picture of all the members of the guild prior to the Mass Disappearance was there, with Maryelle and Henrietta there, looking like slightly older versions of the two people he knew. Okay, so maybe his parents were big fans of the mysterious, legendary hero and decided to commemorate him. But for these people to look exactly the same, and conveniently his friends as well … something was up.

Licking his dry lips, Shiroe shakily set the book down, closing the cover. This was too much for him. He buried his face in his arms, unable to comprehend the theories forming in his head. _Maybe the answers are in Tsukuba,_ he thought. _Maybe that's why the Headmaster sent me there. Maybe he's in on this, everything that's going on_. Curling his fingers into a trembling fist, Shiroe took a deep breath to calm himself down. _Don't worry about this. I just need to focus on getting stronger first. After that, I can worry about this._

His head muddled by everything he had just learned, he fell back asleep.

* * *

Rayneshia walked alone in one of the spacious hallways of the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice, her shoes clicking against its cool marble floors. Because the nobles were not having their conference at the moment, it was relatively empty. At times like these, Rayneshia thought of it as her haven.

At an intersection with another hallway, she hesitated, then turned into the other hall, glancing at the portraits hanging on both sides of the wall. The first one on her left was a portrait of her grandfather, Serjiad Ain-Arde Corwen, staring sternly. Next to him was her father, then her mother. Her own portrait, depicting her at the time of the May Revolution, stood after theirs despite being their second child. Her elder sister, Risselthea Cil-Arte Jaris, had married out of the family to a lowly Knight and thus lost her place in the family. Her portrait stood at the end of the hallway, together with her husband and son. Rayneshia walked further down the hallway, her brother Icelus' portrait coming into her vision. He stood poised with his sword in his hands, the same sword that he was buried with when he died. Shaking off the feelings of loneliness and longing in her heart, Rayneshia continued on, passing the portraits of Icelus' wife and children, their grandchildren, and the rest of the family heads that continued the Corwen family line to this day. She couldn't bring herself to care about them anymore. Willingly becoming an Ancient meant that she had abandoned her lineage, separated herself from them. These feelings were worthless to her now, since they only served to bog her down. With certain dangerous, mind-reading, manipulative individuals around, she had to be careful of what she said and did.

At the end of the hallway was a large, spacious room. It was the one that she had frequently stayed in when she accompanied her father and grandfather to this palace. Here, she learned about the goblin invasion from her father. He must never have imagined that this would change her fate - no, not just her's, but all of Eastal's, including the Adventurer's.

As Rayneshia entered the room, Elissa bowed slightly. "Welcome back, Princess. I will get you some tea." Smiling slightly and uttering a small word of thanks, Rayneshia sat down clumsily in a plush chair that was positioned next to the open window as Elissa went into the adjacent room to prepare the tea.

After a moment of silence, Rayneshia remembered something that had been bothering her for a while. Sitting upright, she caught Elissa's attention, "Hey, Elissa?"

"Yes, Princess?" she called from the other room.

"Is it strange to you that Terrus called an emergency meeting?"

Elissa momentarily returned carrying a tray of tea. "Why do you ask?"

Raising the cup of tea that Elissa had brought, Rayneshia turned to look out the window as she sighed. "It's just my intuition," she explained. After having a sip, she continued, "It wasn't _really_ necessary to call an emergency meeting, was it? We would have had our regular meetings in around two weeks anyways, and we could have gathered more information by then. It would have made more sense to wait."

"Perhaps they were worried about the monsters, or they wanted confirmation about the reincarnations?"

The silver-haired Princess shook her head, dismissing the idea. "Terrus is more practical than that. Practical and a coward. He wouldn't call an emergency meeting, and bother everyone else to go to one location almost immediately, on his own. I think … someone persuaded him to do it. But why?"

* * *

Shiroe sat up wearily, rubbing his eyes. Naotsugu had woken him up, with Nazuna saying "Ah geez, he even woke up so early to read his book, too~." He didn't have any dreams, but the thoughts from earlier still weighed on his mind.

He stood up, stretching to loosen his muscles a little bit. The familiar smell of Nyanta's cooking - he had come to learn by now that Nyanta's food was typically less spicy than Taigamaru's, whose spices would fill the air. It was why Nyanta was usually put in charge of breakfast. Today was no different, and Shiroe drifted over to the eating circle where everyone else was.

"What's there to eat?" he asked as he approached the group.

In response, Aihie tossed a bowl at him and jabbed his thumb in Nyanta's direction. "Ask the master chef."

"Hey," Taigamaru responded irately. "If Nyanta's the master chef, what the hell am I?!"

"The other one, duh." Taigamaru scoffed at the retort, but kept quiet as Shiroe went next to Nyanta's side.

"Eh? This is … tofu?" Looking at the soup, Shiroe recognized it as yudofu, but he didn't know why this was his breakfast. Make no mistake, tofu was his favorite, but yudofu for breakfast wasn't something he was used to.

"That's right, nya," Nyanta winked. "It's Shiroe-cchi's favorite food, so since this is your first dungeon with us, we'll have some tofu to celebrate, nya!"

He only smiled sheepishly in response as the others gave him wide smiles. It seemed that this was some group idea that they had for a while.

"Alright~!" Kanami leapt up, arms akimbo. "As we planned, we're taking Roe-Roe to the Z-539 dungeon! It only needs a party, so the others are going to a more difficult one around thirty minutes away. The ones going with Roe-Roe are me, Panties Head, Deli, KR, and Naz! Once we're all ready, let's go!"

* * *

The entrance to the dungeon was intimidating, to say the least. The area around it looked peaceful from afar, but the evil presence radiating from the dungeon became noticeable once they got closer. Instinctively, Shiroe gripped his Fine Bamboo Staff tightly as he drew it closer to his body.

"Tensing up?" A laughing, but not particularly mocking, voice came from his left. The Summoner KR was leaning against a tree. His green hair was tied back in a ponytail, and he held his two weapons in his hand. Oddly enough, he had one staff and one wand. Shiroe had never seen anyone do anything like that before.

"Well, it's his first time raiding with us," Nazuna cut in. "Of course he'd be nervous."

"Well technically it's just a dungeon, he's not actually rai-"

"Nobody cares about nuances like those, KR," she snapped back.

"Dungeons don't have shrines, unlike raid dungeons," he retorted with a smirk. "We won't revive at the entrance if we die."

"That's why we visited the other dungeon, which is a raid dungeon," Naotsugu responded, not paying attention to the other two. "Stop worrying Shiroe."

"I'm fine," the Enchanter replied as he sat down on a rock, flipping open a large pad of paper.

"Hm~? What's that, Shiroe?" Nazuna asked, peering over his shoulder.

"Ah, it's notes about the dungeon. The monsters and stuff. Kuina told me about them before we came here."

"I see."

The Z-539 dungeon was an underground tunnel, a remnant of the first Age of the Gods. The railways had since flooded with water, making it a nice haven for aquatic monsters like Sahuagin. Most of the monsters here were around level 48, which was close to his level. The others would use the Mentor System to lower their own levels close to his own for training purposes.

There were only two bosses in this dungeon. The first was Wihwin of the Whirlpool, a Party x4-ranked monster. In other words, it would require a party of four Adventurers of an equivalent level to defeat it. According to lore, it was a horrible horse-like demon that usually lived in the sea, but oftentimes prowled the mountainsides for the taste of flesh.

The other was Zo-muk the Decaying, a Party x6 monster. Its lore was considerably more interesting. It was the spawn of Jaja Darga, a false pagan god of corruption and decay worshipped by demihuman monsters.

Naotsugu and Indicus had both told him that the group had cleared this dungeon several times, so they knew it by heart. If everything went smoothly, it wouldn't be a problem. Taking a deep breath, Shiroe calmed his nerves as Kanami returned from scouting ahead.

"Everything's as it's been! We all ready?"

"Don't worry about this, Shiroe," Dale reassured him. "Even if we die for whatever reason, we'll revive at the dungeon where the others are at."

Although he nodded, Shiroe still felt inside that he wouldn't forgive himself if he screwed this up. They were doing this for his sake. It was only natural for him to return the favor. Even if his magic damage wasn't high, his support spells weren't to be underestimated. Picking up his staff, which he had put down to review his notes, he used it to support himself as he stood up.

"I'm ready."

"Wonderful!" Kanami beamed, placing her arms akimbo. "If we're all ready, let's go! Get into formation!"

As expected, Naotsugu was at the very front, drawing Hate towards himself so that the others could attack without worrying about the monsters attacking them. Kanami and Nazuna stuck close behind, with Kanami wiping out groups of monsters with her Swashbuckler skills and Nazuna both assisting in attack and using her Kannagi barriers to defend Naotsugu. Using his unique partying style, KR was in the middle, using his Summons both to assist the front line and to make sure no monsters could ambush the back row, which consisted of Dale and Shiroe. With Shiroe buffing the party, and Dale as their primary healer, those two could change the tide of the battle.

"Six Sahuagin spotted! Level 47!" Naotsugu yelled back. "I'm going to engage! Taunting Shout!" Charging ahead of the others, he used the Guardian's basic Taunt to grab the enemies' attention.

The Sahuagin turned menacingly at the Guardian, readying their spears and swords, and began approaching him. A figured leaped over Naotsugu's head as they drew closer, laughing excitedly.

"Round Windmill!" Kanami slashed at the monsters from above. Upon landing, she was frozen in place for a moment as a result of her skill, but Nazuna dashed forward and attacked any of the surviving monsters with Naotsugu by her side.

Glancing down at her blade, Nazuna smirked upon seeing the dull glow surrounding it. "I'm liking this, Shiroe!" He had cast Keen Edge just before she had swooped in, increasing her weapon's power. The effects of the spell would last another couple of hours, so he wouldn't have to reapply it for a while.

"Alright!" Naotsugu yelled back, "First group down! Let's keep moving!"

* * *

_Easy. _That was what Shiroe thought of this dungeon. _Are dungeons always this easy?_

They had defeated the first boss in the dungeon with relative ease, spending only around ten minutes on it. It had been rather straightforward and didn't require very complex tactics to defeat it; he had heard from the others that this dungeon was rather easy and was meant for lower-mid-level Adventurers who were having their first raids.

The entire team had become more energetic after that victory. Kanami wasn't holding herself back, simply flinging herself at the enemies, while Naotsugu jokingly told her to wait for him even though he usually managed to taunt the enemies before she could get to them. The others just went with her flow, protecting Naotsugu from monster attacks and providing support.

Before long, the group found itself in the room before the second and final dungeon boss. KR had sent in one of his summons to serve as a scout, using Soul Possession to observe the boss' movements directly. As a result, he looked as if he were sleeping.

"Kanami, don't draw things on his face again," Nazuna commented while casually erecting barriers around him to prevent Kanami from drawing on him.

"Aw, Naz-Naz, you're no fun!" Kanami whined, sulking over to Dale's side. "Deli, help me~!"

As Naotsugu watched the other three in amusement, something caught Shiroe's eye. On the wall were huge letters engraved into the wall. He was standing too close to see it well, so he backed towards the opposite end of the wall to read it.

"Hey, Shiro? What'cha doing?" Naotsugu asked, looking slightly bewildered by his sudden movements.

"It says something on the wall."

"Ah, that? It's some lore about the raid boss. It's the same as whatever Kuina told you."

At that moment, KR returned from scouting. "There's no change with the raid boss. Same attack patterns and movements as we've remembered them."

"If that's so, then c'mon, let's go! Let's beat this boss and get Roe-Roe some more gear!" Kanami's determination rippled through everyone as they followed her to the door of the boss zone.

As they entered, Shiroe decided that he was just worrying too much when he saw an extra line of lore that Kuina hadn't mentioned to him.

* * *

Shiroe could hear his ragged breathing as he desperately used some of his spells. The battle wasn't going well at all. Dale's MP had nearly run dry from casting too many healing spells. Most of Nazuna's stronger skills were still cooling down, so she only had her basic ones.

Zo-muk the Decaying had a new skill that none of them knew about. Around three minutes into the battle, when everything seemed to be working out perfectly, it burst forward, ignoring Naotsugu's taunts and Nazuna's barriers, and snatched KR in its jaws before diving into the water. The only way they could free him was by dealing enough damage, but because of his movement speed increase underwater, it was hard to catch him. By the time they finally freed KR, he had sustained a considerable amount of damage over time.

And, with KR freed, Zo-muk began using its other special skills. One of them spawned Sahuagin-looking monsters that swarmed them. Naotsugu was unable to taunt them all as they made their way past him and towards the middle and back lines. Although Kanami attempted to intercept them, Zo-muk charged towards her and used the same skill he had used on KR, dragging her under the water. The Sahuagin stopped spawning, but they couldn't be ignored as they swarmed past KR's summons.

Shiroe could only watch helplessly as they were overtaken by the monsters.

The party had been wiped out.

* * *

Rayneshia sighed, scrolling through the system logs in front of her lazily. A party at Ragranda Forest had defeated the Burning Dead boss, congratulations. A full raid team at Seventh Falls had wiped out, nothing interesting there, try again.

Just then, a new entry popped up on the system log. A party at Z-539 had wiped out against Zo-muk the Decaying. Pressing on the new entry, the details popped up. What a coincidence, it was Shiroe and five of his friends. Scanning through the Action Log, she froze upon seeing something unfamiliar to her.

_Zo-muk the Decaying used Thrasher Bite on Kanami._

"Thrasher … Bite?" With a foreboding sense, she spun on her heels, her cloak flowing behind her as she rushed out of the room.

A maid that had been in the room with her followed quickly on her heels. "Princess, may I assist you?"

"Set up a link to Elias. It's urgent."


	9. Chapter 9: Try, Try Again

Shiroe woke up when a ray of sunlight hit his face, wincing slightly at the brightness that he could feel even with his eyes closed. Groaning slightly, he sat up. It was the entrance to the raid the others had went into.

So they really had wiped out. Shiroe silently clenched his fists so hard, he could feel his hands trembling.

Disgraceful. Stupid. Embarrassing. A failure.

These kinds of thoughts flooded his mind. It couldn't be helped. He could remember the sensation of death clearly. Before reviving, he would see everything he had done wrong in the battle. He didn't properly slow down the boss and cast debuffs on it. He should have said something when Kanami misjudged her timing. He shouldn't have hesitated to use Mana Transformer to supply Dale with more MP when it had run too low. He didn't mention that one extra line of text that he had seen before they challenged the boss.

It was a stupid, embarrassing display of his own naivete. Everyone else would've done better if he had done his job properly. Like usual, he had only held the group back. This is why he hated going raiding with other people. He was only a burden in the end, a loser who couldn't even use his own spells properly.

He felt his feet move on their own as his mind wandered off, ignoring Suizakura's "Hey, where're you going?"

* * *

Kanami blinked twice, staring at the deep blue sky and the fluffy-looking clouds above her. Sitting upright, she stared almost confusedly at the other members of her party.

"We wiped out?"

"Yeah," Naotsugu replied bluntly.

She stood up, stretching a bit. "Well, that was fun! I totally did not see that new skill coming!"

KR raised his hand in self-deprecation. "I didn't wait patiently to make sure I caught all of Zo-muk's skills. That's my fault."

"Well, there was no guarantee that he would have used it, since fighting him with one summon alone doesn't deal a lot of damage. If I remember correctly, he was at two-thirds of his health when he did that," Naotsugu reassured him. "Besides, I couldn't aggro him properly, and you got targeted."

"That skill seems to ignore aggro, though," Nazuna added. "It also went through my barrier, so it seems to be a skill that cannot be avoided. Whoever gets caught just has to tank it until they're freed. I panicked and used my emergency spell inappropriately, which wasted both the spell and my MP."

"I charged in too quickly and wasted my MP and skills on weak monsters before the raid boss," Kanami chimed in, albeit without a hint of regret. "Ah well, we all screwed up. We all have somewhere to improve. So what? This is where we get better and beat him for good! Right, Roe-...Roe?"

The boy she directed her comment at was nowhere to be found. After a moment of awkward silence, Kanami started searching under odd places for him. She picked up a boulder. "Roe-Roe?" Now a log. "Roe-Roe~?" Now a leaf. "Roe~ Roe~!"

"Kanami, I - ahm - I don't think he'd be down there," Dale told her.

"I saw him go thataway." Suizakura, who had pulled a beer out of her Magic Bag, pointed in the direction she had seen him walk towards. "He wasn't looking too happy."

Before Kanami could move, Naotsugu stood up. "I'll go talk to him."

"Eh?"

"For something like this, it's a mens' festival!"

"That doesn't sound like it'd turn out too well, Panties Head."

"Hey! Have some faith in me, Kanami!" he responded as he walked down the path to find Shiroe. The others just looked at each other and sighed. There wasn't much they could do in this sort of situation. They had all experienced it in the beginning; it was up to the individual to decide if they could handle this sort of lifestyle.

* * *

Shiroe stared at his palms, then clenched them in frustration as his legs dangled over the edge of the boulder he sat on. He felt as though he had failed everyone else as memories from his time at the Academy washed over him.

"_Why're you so weak?!"_

"_Just tell us how to do it, we don't need you to come with us!"_

"_Enchanters like you can't do anything right!"_

Although he had learned to tune out those kinds of words, they still hurt him when people said them to him, and they still hurt even when nobody said it directly.

_I've squandered all the trust that Maryelle and Henrietta and the others in the Tea Party gave to me … I'm worthless!_

Shiroe could feel his breathing grow erratic as the sound of snivelling grew louder. Although he tried suppressing it, a tear fell from his eye, travelling down to his chin before plopping onto his hands. Hastily, he rubbed his tear-brimmed eyes as if to deny their existence.

_Maybe I'm really not cut out for this,_ he thought. _Maybe I should go back to Koorima, or maybe to Tsukuba or Akiba, and just take on a scribal job. I'm better at that anyways._

A soft pat on his shoulder surprised him, and he quickly wiped his eyes again in a feeble attempt to hide the fact that he was crying. To his right, Nyanta sat down next to him. For around half a minute, they sat in silence, with Nyanta placing his hand on Shiroe's shoulder to comfort him.

"This fight was very important to you, isn't that right, nya?" Shiroe only nodded. "Of course, this was your first dungeon with us so you feel like you need to do your best to help lead us to victory."

"I failed." His choked voice was pathetic and feeble, but he felt the need to say it. He was at a loss with what else to say or do.

"You didn't finish what you aimed to accomplish. But was it really a total failure?"

"I didn't clear the dungeon." Shiroe could hear his voice rising out of frustration. Why didn't Nyanta understand? It might be easy for him to say, but …

"But you got through all of it except for that last Boss, nya. And through the difficult battle, you may have lost, but you can try it again, right?"

He was right, but … Shiroe still shook his head. It was a sort of stubborn pride. He had determined to quit raiding and go for something else. He didn't want to admit to himself that the idea of trying it again was tempting.

"Even though we're all strong, almost none of us get it right the first time," Nyanta revealed. "We're strong because we can assess where we went wrong, our strengths and weaknesses, our enemies' strengths and weaknesses, and come up with a better strategy each time we get knocked down. That's what it means to be a team."

"Ah, there you are, Shiro. And the Chief, too." Naotsugu waved at them as he came down from the hill towards the boulder. Joining Shiroe on his other side, he asked, "How're you feeling, Shiro?"

Shiroe attempted to look like he was fine, scraping together a weak smile, but it was painfully obvious that he wasn't. Realizing this, he let the forced smile crumble as Naotsugu put a strong hand on his free shoulder.

"Don't feel bad about what happened. All of us screwed up. Even if none of us screwed up, there was still a chance that we could have failed. We were just so used to success that we let our guard down. If it's anyone's fault, it's ours."

Watching Naotsugu's face, which stared straight at the calm waves in front of them, Shiroe could tell that he wasn't lying or just saying things to make him feel better. This was what he really felt.

After a moment of silence, Naotsugu spoke up again. "This is probably one of the things that drew most of us to Kanami. She doesn't care about failing. Even if things don't go the way she wanted, she'll do it over and over again until they do. She's impulsive. She definitely is. But because of that, we get to do things and see things we would never be able to accomplish on our own, or maybe even with others."

"Um, Naotsugu? How did you meet Kanami?"

"Ah, that …" Naotsugu scratched the back of his head, unsure of where to start. "Well, my story's pretty boring. I just ran into her when we were both in the same eatery, and she complained about the stew. She bet that she could make it better, and went to get fresh ingredients. I ended up tagging along because I knew the area better."

"_Was_ her stew better?"

Naotsugu laughed heartily, paused in an attempt to collect himself, only to burst out laughing again. Wiping a tear from his eye, he responded, "Not at all. In fact, we never even went back because she got bored of collecting ingredients. We actually ran into the particular Chef who made her stew. Apparently, he got fired soon after that incident. Of course, she didn't recognize him, but once she realized who he was, she kicked him in the face and ran off for a couple of days. Kuina managed to find her and bring her back, but she was in quite the sour mood for a while."

Picturing Kanami throwing a tantrum over stew was too much for Shiroe. He tried to restrain his laughter, but failed and started laughing amidst his tears.

As Shiroe was collecting himself, Naotsugu grinned from ear-to-ear. "Laughing suits you more, Moody Glasses. See? You don't have to be so down all the time."

"Don't hold yourself back," Nyanta continued. "When you're upset, be honest and tell someone. Don't keep it brewing inside of you, nya."

Processing these words in his heart, Shiroe spoke up after some silence. "There's been something that's been bugging me ever since this morning. I think it's important to share it, since - well, it might be a coincidence, but it involves you two as well."

* * *

"Princess, it's chilly outside. You should wear this." Elissa draped a thick shawl over Rayneshia's shoulders before returning indoors. The silver-haired lady sat in the gazebo at the Ancient Palace, laying her head the table like she had in the past.

This was where she had often sat when her grandfather and father had come for the Eastal Leagues convention. This was where she first met Krusty, who decided to use her as a shield to avoid discussions and to laze around.

It was odd. Rayneshia couldn't remember thinking about the Pioneers this much in the past 300 years. It was probably because of all the recent events that had begun happening in such quick succession.

She had noticed some of the oldest Pioneers reincarnating a little less than a century ago. Before the Mass Disappearance, some of the Pioneers had existed ever since the Adventurers were first summoned into this world. They were around 240 years old when the May Revolution occurred, and thus 255 when the Mass Disappearance struck. However, since then, Adventurers rarely ever lived that long, most only living to around 140 or so before disappearing. While that itself wasn't an issue, there was indeed an issue with the reincarnating Pioneers.

Their parents were disappearing far sooner than the previous generations had.

Normally, Adventurer parents would send their children to Academies because either they did not want to be bogged down by their kids, or because they thought themselves unfit to raise them. That was probably the case with some of the reincarnated Pioneers' parents. However, many of them were disappearing soon after having their children, which was abnormal. Although the Academies existed, it was only natural that some parents wanted to raise their kids themselves. However, if their parents disappeared, the children would be orphaned. This left them susceptible to attack by monsters or PKers, and they would probably be easily tricked by a malevolent guild or Adventurer.

Akiba's Round Table Alliance, in order to face such problems in the past several hundred years, had implemented a patrol system consisting of both volunteers and guardsmen who would make sure that if any such children could be taken to safety, where they would be relocated to a guild or an Academy for protection and training. However, this was method wasn't made for handling large amounts of such instances. If this happened to all the parents of the reincarnated Adventurers, it may be too difficult for patrols to handle. After all, the guardsmen were members of the Azure Guard, the private defense force for the Round Table Alliance, and they would not leave a certain radius around the city unless they were escorting Alliance representatives.

Rayneshia bit her lower lip. On top of the reincarnation of the Pioneers beginning, another important incident occurred at that time - Adventurers stopped gaining level increases, but the monsters hadn't. If monsters became too strong for Adventurers, there was a chance that even the Ancients couldn't handle them. And if neither of them could handle the monsters, then …

_No! I can't let anything like that happen!_ Her fingers tensed up at the thought of the destruction and death that situation would cause. Sitting up, she took two ragged breaths to calm herself down. _I already let that city burn because of my carelessness … I can't let it happen to the entire continent!_

She stared at her sweaty palms, recollecting Kinjo's words that day. "_I don't want a tragedy like this to happen ever again. For this reason, we must take all measures to ensure that the Genii do not reawaken."_

"What … did he mean by that?" Hesitantly, she stood up. After a long sigh, she steeled herself. "There's only one way to find out."

* * *

"Have you finally collected yourself, Mob Glasses? Really, taking that long is embarrassing."

The Tea Party stood at the entrance of the Z-539 raid. Kanami's group was ready to run the dungeon again, with the other members seeing them off before going to challenge the other dungeon a second time.

"I'll be sure to come back successful, Kuina." Shiroe adjusted the tunic that Wihwin had dropped. Ocean Thread Tunic provided extra protection against Water-type attacks, which would be useful against Zo-muk and Wihwin itself. It was much better than his shabby, under-leveled Academy gear, which Shiroe was thankful for.

"We'll do everything properly this time, 'kay princess?" K.R. light-heartedly teased Kuina, who huffed at him in response.

"You should've done that to begin with, Jester."

"Yeah, yeah, see ya." K.R. followed the other members of his party as they entered the dungeon again.

* * *

"Kanami, you're drawing too much aggro! You're too far from your designated position!"

"Got it!" The Swashbuckler deftly sprung back at Shiroe's command.

The rematch against Zo-muk was going well so far. They already had whittled him down to half-health. In order to combat his new skill, the high damage dealers, buffed by Shiroe, were positioned in a way so that they'd be able to quickly assault the Raid Boss no matter who it grabbed and free the trapped member. When Zo-muk summoned its minions, Naotsugu would grab their attention with Anchor Howl; Dale focused his healing on Naotsugu while Nazuna cast her barriers on everyone else. At this rate, it was only a matter of time.

Shiroe adjusted his glasses and monitored everyone's stats as he surveyed the battlefield. This new plan he had devised with the others was working much better than the old one. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

They were going to win this.

* * *

As she entered the Round Table Alliance conference room, Rayneshia lowered the hood on her cloak. Three people stood in front of her: a middle-aged-looking Adventurer wearing large, bulky armor; a woman in blue military attire with a serious, practiced air around her; and a young Wolf Fang girl in a similar uniform as the older woman. Rayneshia suppressed a gasp upon seeing the girl, who had to be a couple of years older than the reincarnated Shiroe.

"Your Ladyship Rayneshia," the man greeted her as the two others bowed slightly. "You requested to visit the Kunie clean headquarters?"

Rayneshia nodded. "Yes, if it's not too much of a bother."

"Miss Piris here will guide you there. This girl's name is Takayama Misa. Today is her fifth day as an official member of the Azure Guard. She is learning under Miss Piris, if you do not mind her company."

_I thought so,_ Rayneshia thought. Without ever changing expressions, she responded that it was fine; after all, even if those three were unaware of it, she was well aware of what Misa was like. _Did I just feel a reaction …? No, it's impossible. But even so, this strange sensation … I shouldn't dawdle._

"Right this way, then, milady." Miss Piris gestured towards the door, and Rayneshia shuffled behind her, with both Miss Piris and Misa in front of her.

After walking into the main corridor, Misa looked back slightly. "Lady Rayneshia, how was the journey to Akiba? Was it pleasant?"

"Oh … um, yes, it was, thank you, Miss Takayama."

"Please, just call me Misa."

_She's much friendlier than the one I knew in the past. So it is indeed possible for the reincarnations to have different personalities from the original Pioneers, even if it's just a slight change. _Rayneshia sighed softly to herself. _I need to concentrate! It's Kinjo I'm dealing with. Even if he's not particularly malicious, there are several things I need to confirm with him …_

"Is everything alright, milady?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired from the journey. I came here as fast as I could since I had a rather pressing issue to deal with."

"I see. It's best not to waste your time, then. We're almost there."

After a minute of walking in silence, they reached a large, heavy double door. The doors immediately opened upon their presence, beckoning them in.

"How may we help you?" Two members of the Kunie clan, a young man and a young woman, greeted them. Seeing who their guest was, they immediately bowed in reverence. "Miss Rayneshia! We are delighted to be in your presence!"

"Oh no, I'm not that special," Rayneshia stammered, flustered by the attention being doled out her. "I wanted to see Mister Kinjo, if that's alright?"

The two looked at each other, suddenly uncomfortable. The girl opened her mouth to explain. "We-we're sorry, Miss Rayneshia … but Kinjo just left several minutes ago and we do not know when he'll return."

* * *

Shiroe slowly opened his eyes, squinting at the floor moving underneath him as he regained consciousness. He vaguely felt the sensation of something metallic in front of him.

_Wait, what about-_ his head snapped up, only for him to feel a jolt of dizziness and pain in his head.

"Oi, Shiro, don't move around too much. Your MP's still really low." Hearing Naotsugu's voice so close to him, Shiroe realized that the Guardian was carrying him piggyback-style.

"... What …"

"We did it! Yahoo!" Kanami skipped backwards to vigorously pat him on the back. "We won, Shiroe! We cleared the dungeon! Of course, since you passed out after the battle, we've saved some goodies for you!"

Shiroe managed a weak smile as his eyelids drooped again, returning him to slumber in spite of the ruckus Kanami was making.

"Eeehhh~? Is Roe-Roe asleep already? Shi~ro~"

"Let him rest, Kanami. It's been a long day for all of us, but we've got more stamina than he does."

"Well, he was practically throwing his mana at us," KR added with a slight giggle. "I sure didn't run out, but it looks like he did."

"Don't tease him for it," Dale reprimanded. "He probably threw you the most MP because you always manage to run out."

"Eh? He kept on giving more MP, so I just used it," KR responded with a grin.

"Well~ looks like the celebration will have to wait until Shiro wakes up," Nazuna commented. Seeing Kanami's dejected face, she added, "Think of it this way, Kanami, it gives Nyanta and Taiga more time to prepare food for the feast."

"Oooh, a feast?! Roe-Roe, take your time~, I wanna eat lots of delicious food~!"

As Kanami dashed towards the meeting spot with images of food in her mind, the others laughed as they followed her lead.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the hiatus! I lost my inspiration since I'm not good at describing raids or raid strategies, and then schoolwork ate up all my time. The next couple of chapters should be more interesting (at least for me), so there shouldn't be several months between this chapter and the next if everything goes well.

Indicus/Kuina has finally appeared in the anime as well, so those who didn't know her probably have a better understanding of what she's like. She isn't _as_ mean in LGAO (yet), but she's still pretty nasty.


	10. Chapter 10: Journey to Warabi Village

"Cheers!" The Tea Party members clinked their canteens together as they celebrated their victories. Nyanta and Taigamaru had prepared a feast, as Nazuna had said they would, and Kanami and Naotsugu were in the middle of an eating contest with Aihye as the referee, judge, and commentator.

"Oh! Kanami takes another plate! Naotsugu doesn't fall behind, he's immediately grabbed another one and is wolfing through it!"

From a fair distance away, Shiroe laughed awkwardly, doing his best to maintain distance from the raucous group surrounding the two competitors. _Really, though, was Kanami serious when she said that they had saved all that food for me? Do I look like I can eat that much?_ He fidgeted on the rock which he was seated on, overlooking the main group. As hard as he tried, joining large, noisy groups just wasn't his thing. He always felt anxious when he was at large gatherings; simply remembering some of the Academy's banquets made his palms sweaty.

Nyanta watched the group as he stood behind Shiroe, also hesitant to join in. From some of the comments he had made, Shiroe inferred that he never did quite adjust to the amount of food some of their members ate.

"Wow, such a loud party - ah? You're …"

Shiroe and Nyanta turned around and saw a red-haired Wolf Fang with some other Adventurers around Shiroe's age.

"Eh? You're - Ragoumaru, right?"

The Wolf Fang's ears perked up in excitement. "Haha! Yeah, you're Shiroe! What a coincidence, you guys must've cleared a raid, huh?"

As Ragoumaru sat next to Shiroe, Ragoumaru's friends simply smiled at Nyanta awkwardly. "Ah ah, Maru, isn't it rude not to introduce friends?" A tall, white-haired Guardian asked as a blonde-haired Sorcerer tugged on Ran's ponytail.

"Stop that, Prome," he snarled, although the boy named Prometheus (according to the status screen) only laughed in response. Turning to the Guardian, he jabbed his thumb at Shiroe. "I met Shiroe in Yokohama. He just graduated from the Academy of Urumiya."

"Ah, isn't that when Piani wanted that cloak?" Shiroe glanced at the Guardian's status screen. His name was Dinkuron. Ragoumaru scowled and rolled his eyes in response.

"Speaking of which, where is she?" Shiroe didn't notice the young Elf girl anywhere.

"Hm? Oh, she's too young to participate in raids, so she's probably bothering William right now," the Wolf Fang replied, waving his hand as if to dismiss the subject.

A bespeckled Elf boy with short brown hair ("_What's with all these Elves?"_ Shiroe thought) stood next to Prometheus. "You're so cold, Ran. You dote on her all the time at home."

Ragoumaru flushed in embarrassment and looked away. "I-I'm taking care of her because Mother told me to! Besides, Nia just treats me like a -"

"WAAAH~! You're like a giant puppy!" Kanami had dashed up the hill, having noticed the other party in the area. She immediately beelined over to Ragoumaru and started touching his ears.

"W-what are you doing?!"

"Nooo~~! Don't run away, your ears are fluffy~!"

"By the gods, no! She's like an older Nia! AUGGH!" Ragoumaru tried shaking off the amused Swashbuckler girl to no avail as Shiroe looked away in embarrassment.

* * *

A good while later, things had settled down at the camp, although Ragoumaru was still muttering to himself about the "crazy girl" as his companions snickered at his previous misfortune.

"-So Zo-muk has a new skill, that's what you're saying?" The brown-haired Elf named Touko reaffirmed the information he had received from the Tea Party.

"Yes, that's correct," Indicus replied, smiling sweetly at him. In spite of that, Shiroe could feel her glaring daggers at him when nobody else was looking. _Um … did she want that information to be kept a secret?_

"Where're you gonna go after this?" Ragoumaru asked, leaning back against the tree he was sitting next to. "If you're gonna head towards Tsukuba, then there's the Annual Festival over at Warabi Village you guys should see."

"A festival? Count me in!" Kanami bounced out of her seat, tugging on Shiroe's sleeve. "C'mon Shiro! Where is it?! Where's the village?!" Without even waiting to hear his response, she bounded out into the forest, away from the dungeon.

"A-ah, Kanami!" A moment of pause. "Well, there's never any use in asking her to stop, so-" Shiroe adjusted his glasses as he turned back to the others, "-I guess we'll be parting ways now."

"All right, then! Have fun!" Ragoumaru waved them off as the rest of the Tea Party hastily gathered their belongings.

"Guuuys~! C'mon, c'mon~!" Kanami's faint shout could be heard, with her figure barely within sight.

Shiroe sighed as they trudged over to their leader. "Well," Naotsugu piped up, "so much for getting to Tsukuba quickly."

* * *

A girl strummed the last note of a song she was playing. As her music faded away, it was replaced by thunderous applause and raucous cheers, some of it from other young-looking kids off to the side of the small stage. Her troupe was small, and thus only had a small stage in a niche corner of the festival, but it was nice like that, too.

"What a _marvelous_ performance, young miss!"

The girl turned to her left. A blonde, wavy-haired man in impressive-looking gear clapped louder than anyone else in the crowd.

"Encore, encore! Young miss, your lute's music is beautiful!"

She giggled slightly as she replied. "My name isn't 'young miss,' it's Isuzu."

The man's eyes looked almost wistful for a second, but it disappeared, so she shook off the feeling. "Well then, Miss Isuzu, will you play another song?"

Isuzu shook her head. "It's time for the next musicians," she noted, as Milky finished collecting gold from the crowd. "But I'll be performing at the tavern tonight, and I'll be back here tomorrow!"

"That sounds wonderful! I would be most delighted to hear your wonderous music again."

Isuzu stared at one of the man's gauntlets. If she looked closely, it almost seemed as though faint music notes were dancing around it. "What is that?"

"Oh, this?" He lifted the gauntlet slightly. "It's a magic gauntlet, imbued with the power of a great musician."

"Is that why you like music so much?"

Just as he was about to respond, the maestro barked, "Isuzu! Stop slacking off!"

"Ah! Sorry, maestro! I'm sorry, sir, I have to go practice now!" she informed the man as she picked up her stuff. "I'll see you tonight, maybe!" Without waiting for his response, she dashed off after her friends.

"Tonight, huh? I'd love to make it, but now that I'm finally back, I doubt the others will let me run off to hear a performance. Isuzu, wasn't it …?" The man turned around and left as the next performance began.

* * *

Rayneshia stopped pacing for what was probably the tenth time now, straightening out her skirt and fixing her hair so that she wouldn't look so frazzled if someone happened to walk in on her.

"This is … this is ridiculous …" she muttered to herself. Kinjo, gone! _And at such an important time, too!_ She paced the powder room twice more, trying to decide her next course of action. She stared out the window at the bustling streets below. For a couple of years after the Mass Disappearance, almost the entire continent had come to a standstill as those who remained tried to grasp the situation; Akiba was left a barren shell, devoid of its large Adventurer population. However, things had returned to how it had been prior to that event - but she couldn't tell for how long.

A sharp rap on the door interrupted her thoughts. Before Rayneshia could respond, the door opened, and Misa stepped in.

"Pardon my intrusion, princess. Is everything alright?"

Rayneshia realized that she must've been in the powder room for at least thirty minutes now. Hastily, she came up with an excuse to be alone, and while Misa did not look completely reassured, she had no choice but to oblige, and left Rayneshia alone once more.

After calming her nerves down, Rayneshia drew out a small communication medallion from her hidden pocket. It was wrapped in the slip of paper Coppelia had given her earlier. Rayneshia stared at the words written on the paper. Even if she could understand its meaning, she couldn't truly bring herself to believe it … and yet, that was the point all along. To weaken her mind … no, not just hers. Who knows who had fallen for that trick by now.

Before she could think about how to deal with the issue at hand, though, she suddenly felt a jolt course through her body. It wasn't painful, but it felt as though she was using magic, which she definitely wasn't.

"Could it be …?" Rayneshia resolved in her heart not to run away from the situation. She could do it. She _would_. Grasping her medallion, she contacted Coppelia. "Coppelia, I just felt a large surge of magic. Trace it back for me. I must find out its source."

* * *

No matter where the Tea Party seemed to go, trouble always seemed to follow.

Shiroe's mind was racing in what felt like a thousand different directions. Trapped, no means of escape. A mysterious man in front of them, with a Raid Boss behind him. And not just any Raid Boss, a level 97 one; it seemed to be a reskin of the notorious monster Uru of Ninth Prison.

Looking at the man's stats, it was obvious from the lack of detail that he was a Lander. Kinjo, a level 63 Half-Alv Successor. Compared to an Adventurer, he was theoretically weak. However, they were being trapped within a vortex of what seemed to be purple rose petals, and Aihye had carelessly confirmed for them that they would take substantial damage upon contact with them.

"What do you want, dress-man?!"

Of course, Kanami wasn't one to show fear in the face of overwhelming odds.

"... I want you to turn back from Tsukuba."

Shiroe furrowed his brows in an attempt to rationalize what Kinjo was saying. How could he have known where they were headed? They had barely even attempted to go near the city, thanks to Kanami's lack of a sense of direction.

"And why should we listen to you?!"

"... This is for the fate of Yamato. No, possibly the entirety of Theldesia. If the 'Pioneers' become as powerful as they were before, then the 'Genius' might return again. And if they return, who knows how many lives will be lost?"

"I don't know what you're babbling about, but I don't care! We're going to Tsukuba, and you're not going to stop us!"

"My lady, please, calm yourself!" Indicus placed her hands on Kanami's shoulder, attempting to drag the other girl away from Kinjo, who simply stared at her stoically.

"No, you don't, and perhaps that is for the best. Even if the other Ancients believe that you Pioneers will save us, who knows? Maybe you'll only lead us to further ruination, just like with the Mass Disappearance."

"The … Mass Disappearance? Are you saying," Shiroe asked with incredulity, "that the Pioneers caused it?"

"Oh, so you're the 'new' Shiroe that Rayneshia mentioned."

"Wh-what …?"

Kinjo's eyes seemed to become even colder than they had been before, boring into Shiroe's eyes, as if searching into the depths of his soul. "It's because of the 'Shiroe' then, and his miscalculation, that things could not go as planned. Well, it's no matter. You can't understand, anyways."

"Let us go!" Kanami attempted to throw herself at Kinjo, but Suikazura and Naotsugu helped Indicus hold her back this time. "I might not understand what you're going on about, but isn't it worse to make sure that we won't get it?! Roe-Roe is who he is, not that Roe-Roe of the past!"

He shook his head. "It doesn't work that way, it seems. You can't understand because you haven't observed this world like we have. All of these disturbances throughout the world have been occurring ever since your group has reappeared. These disturbances growing in severity after the 'Shiroe' of now has appeared cannot be a mere coincidence. Nakasu was razed to the ground because of the 'Shiroe' of 500 years ago. Even now, it remains a barren wasteland. I cannot allow that to happen again. Please, stand down. Go elsewhere. Just don't go to Tsukuba."

"No, I won't listen!" Kanami persisted, still struggling against her binds. "We're getting to Tsukuba, especially now that you've told us not to go! I don't know what happened with the old Roe-Roe, but this one isn't like that! He'll never do something like that!"

"This is my duty. I cannot allow any possible element to go unchecked."

"What is he, an object, now?!"

"... If you will not desist, then I may have to take some more … extreme measures. This Raid Boss behind me … did you think he was the only one I could control?"

"If you bring out more, I don't care! I'll-"

"Warabi Village might be popular, but it is still small, and has little defense of its own. One or two high-leveled raid bosses might be too much for it to handle."

"No …" Nazuna uttered, her eyes wide in shock. "Is he … is he really taking an entire village hostage?!"

"You coward!" Naotsugu roared, even while holding back the enraged Kanami.

"I won't say anything like 'I didn't want to do this'. While that may be true, it's your own stubbornness. Under any circumstances, allowing you to travel to Tsukuba will only be worse for everyone."

"You-!" Before Kanami could finish, the vortex of rose petals suddenly increased in speed even more. Although his facial expression remained the same, the slight tilt of his head was enough for them to tell that this wasn't his doing.

The rose petals shed their purple color, turning into a light pink for a brief moment before suddenly converging between the Tea Party and Kinjo. Shiroe shielded his eyes, in case any of them suddenly tore into him.

"Kinjo! What is the meaning of this?"

When he lifted his eyes, there stood a woman with long, silvery hair. She looked like … the mysterious woman he had met not far from Urumiya Academy. Some of the remaining rose petals still danced around them, but were much less threatening than they were before.

"You're …?"

"Princess Rayneshia. I should have known that you would intervene."

"These kids will be going to Tsukuba. I will make sure of it. If you wish to stop them, you'll have us Ancients to deal with."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'm terribly sorry about the hiatus! Slogging through chapters 8 and 9 killed my inspiration for the story, and then I was too busy with work and didn't have the time to work on this. This chapter doesn't inspire much from me, either, which is why the title doesn't fit the chapter at all; I was going to involve more Isuzu, with the Tea Party having left Warabi Village when they're waylaid by Kinjo, but then decided against it. Hopefully chapter 11, which is a chapter I've been looking forward to for quite a while, will pick up the pace again, both in-story and out.

Some notes for the future, since I'm too lazy to go back into the previous chapters and change them (for now):

_Log Horizon 9: Kanami, Go! East!_ revealed some information about the Tea Party members, including bits and pieces of their relationships with each other. As it turns out, the character Anba, who was in some previous chapters in LGAO, is completely different from the old translation I used. Not only is Anba male, not female, the proper name is actually "Kurama". So from now on, Anba will be changed to fit the canon description.

Also, since my ideas for this story were written up prior to volume 10's publication (covered in the last four/five episodes of season 2), I think LGAO's backstory will diverge from canon around that point. There are some explanations I devised that simply will not work with what volume 10 tells us, unless I rewrite those (which I may very well do, given how long it's been since I've written a chapter for this story).


	11. Chapter 11: Trust Me, Please!

_(Recap of Chapter 10: En route to the College of Tsukuba, the Tea Party was intercepted by the resentful Kinjo, who was determined to stop them from reaching the city. However, they are freed by no other than Princess Rayneshia, who challenges Kinjo for the Tea Party's right to travel to Tsukuba. Meanwhile, in the nearby village of Warabi that has unknowingly been taken hostage in the midst of its famous music festival, a young girl named Isuzu meets a mysterious man...)_

* * *

Rayneshia stood between Kinjo and Uru of Ninth Garden and the kids from the Tea Party, poised to attack Kinjo if things came down to it. Five hundred years ago, before the May Revolution, she would never have dreamt of facing this sort of scenario even in her most fanciful daydreams. But things were different now. This was her battle to fight, and she was determined to see it to the end.

Without breaking eye contact with Kinjo, she waved at the children behind her. "Go. Head to the College of Tsukuba." Seeing their hesitation, she added, "Please trust me. I will not let this man stop you."

After a moment, she saw their figures dash past her from the corner of her eye, and she extended her arm to prepare a spell in case Kinjo tried any moves. However, he didn't move a muscle, even as his targets slipped away.

Once the kids had run a distance from them, he finally spoke. "Do you intend to repeat the past? These Pioneers were responsible the war that wiped Nakasu off the map."

It was true. If Eastal and Westelande hadn't gone to war, and if each side hadn't developed such terrifying weapons using the Adventurers' advanced technology, perhaps things wouldn't have ended the way they did. But it happened, and it couldn't be reversed. All they could do is accept the reality of it and do whatever they could to help. Even Kinjo, in his own way, was doing this. It would be foolish to assume otherwise, and in spite of his scathing reaction towards the "new" Shiroe, Kinjo and Shiroe had worked together well prior to the disastrous event at Nakasu.

The tragedy of it all was that it was just like rolling a bad set of dice, as Nazuna put it. But if it had just been bad luck, Shiroe wouldn't have been as upset as he was. Instead, his worst fears were realized; the Genius purposely stoked the flames of war, and the entire Yamato server played into their hands brilliantly. While the war was directly caused by Honesty and Plant Hwyaden, Shiroe purposely directed the negativity towards himself, painful as it was.

Even Rayneshia herself had secretly blamed Shiroe for a short while, and to this day, she felt guilty for having such little faith in him after all he had done for Akiba's sake. This guilt was only compounded by Akatsuki's reports about the guild's condition. Even though several influential guilds in Akiba openly showed their support for Log Horizon and quelled public animosity towards its members, Log Horizon's negative reputation took its toll on its members. It was obvious to those who heard her that the only time that Akatsuki could show her emotions was when she was at Rayneshia's tea parties.

_"My lord already collapsed from exhaustion, but he still tried gathering more information when he was able to sit up again,"_ _Akatsuki said. The corners of her mouth were upturned, but Rayneshia knew that she wasn't making light of the situation. She was forcing herself to smile so she wouldn't break down herself. "Isuzu ended up using a Sleep song to force him to rest. When he woke up later, he didn't say anything, but everyone knew he was angry that we forced him to take a break from his research."_

_"Did Miss Kanami go to see him? Maybe, if anyone, she—"_

_Akatsuki shook her head. "He won't see her at all. She's denied access from our whole building. I think he feels like he failed her, since he wasn't able to create a stable connection between the two worlds. He didn't fulfill the terms of her 'quest,' and he believes that he deprived her of her chance to reunite with her family."_

_"But Miss Kanami _chose _to stay here. So why is he blaming himself…?"_

_The petite ninja was silent as she gazed into her ceramic cup. She opened her mouth to speak, but then hesitated and closed it again. This happened twice more until she finally organized her thoughts. "I think… This is my lord's way of coping with the destruction. Even though I only overheard this, he asked Naotsugu, Chief, and Soujiro if he should have forced Indicus to back down from the beginning. What if he had taken more drastic measures." She paused again. "And my lord never asks 'what if' questions out loud."_

"Losing focus on a battlefield is a bad trait, Princess Rayneshia."

"I wasn't losing focus," she responded slowly, bringing herself out of her thoughts. "I was reminding myself what I'm fighting for. Kinjo, do you still blame Shiroe for what happened?"

Kinjo furrowed his brows ever so slightly. "He talked extensively about keeping the Genius' movements under observation, and making sure not to let them take the upper hand. Yet when the plan was set into motion, that's exactly what happened."

"One person can't do everything. The blame for what happened cannot be laid all on one person. Honesty, Plant Hwyaden… they cooperated in the downfall of the first Round Table."

Eins repaired Akiba's Intercity Transport Gate so that Plant Hwyaden could invade Akihabara and wage war within the unprotected city. While the archipelago's two strongest forces were fighting, the Genii swept into Nakasu and conquered it, slaughtering its Lander population and forcing its Adventurers into a constant cycle of death and resurrection in order to harvest all of the Empathiom they could.

By the time that the Round Table and Plant Hwyaden had come to a truce and joined forces to fight the invaders, Nakasu had been reduced to a wasteland. Some of the Adventurers rescued by the punitive expeditions had already begun forgetting significant memories like the names of their siblings or the faces of their best friends in the old world. According to Krusty, memory loss was typically trivial—it was something small that Adventurers gave up in order to revive. For an Adventurer to lose significant memories meant that either the Genii could steal more memories than Adventurers usually sacrificed, or that the Genii had killed them _that_ much. If Shiroe's deductions were correct, it was the latter.

"If Shiroe hadn't trusted Eins so much—"

"Do you truly believe he trusted Eins?"

He hesitated. "I no longer believe in him."

If she said that she didn't understand him, she'd be lying. She could remember all too well the times that she didn't trust him. It was only because of Akatsuki, Henrietta, and Rieze's faith in him that she came to wholeheartedly trust him. Ever since the Akiba Raid incident, Rayneshia and Akatsuki had become very close—up until the Mass Disappearance, Akatsuki served as Rayneshia's personal bodyguard together with Rieze. If Akatsuki trusted Shiroe, so would she—even if everyone else turned against him.

"If you were in Shiroe's position, what would you have done?"

Kinjo was silent, because he knew how limited Shiroe's options were. Eins' actions couldn't be categorized as "definitely right" or "definitely wrong." Just as Shiroe fought for his "home," so had Eins. Honesty was his pride and joy; a place he cherished, with people he welcomed with open arms. But it slowly began to crumble, and Eins feared for its political power in the Round Table. Eins was perhaps too kind, which made him weak to his beliefs that Shiroe would abandon the people who wished to return home, like himself.

Those lies coiled around his lack of faith in Shiroe and his inability to trust in Shiroe's plans. Not unlike a certain man who now stood before her, five hundred years later.

"Kinjo. Please, can we talk this over?" She took his silence as a yes. "Please tell me. What is so important about Tsukuba that you want to stop them from going there?"

"If they meet Sheiola, then they will learn about their lives from five hundred years ago."

"They would have found out eventually anyways."

"I don't want to risk the possibility of them remembering their past lives," he continued. "Adventurers' memories can be converted into Empathiom. In this world, they were given immortal bodies capable of resurrecting after death, at the cost of their memories. The Travelers were drawn to this world once they discovered that the Catastrophe would occur, and took advantage of this fact."

"So by keeping them away from their past, you're hoping that you can prevent the Genius from returning?"

"That is correct."

"But we have no idea if these are the same exact people from five hundred years ago. They might be different now."

"Whether they'll grow up to be the same or not isn't the issue. If they regain their memories of their past lives, it'll put this world at risk of another Traveler invasion."

"That might be true, but…"

Rayneshia faltered, unsure of how to form her words. Trying to communicate her reasons when she didn't have a concrete goal was difficult for her. She wasn't trying to save her people from imminent death, or trying to keep peace between Adventurers and Landers. If she had let Kinjo stop the Tea Party, there wouldn't be any immediate repercussions. People's ordinary lives would continue as normal. Eventually, even the Tea Party would find out everything. Right now, she was just acting off of her own desires.

Shiroe was smart. His reincarnation hadn't lost that aspect, but he was still nurturing his abilities. The Shiroe that Rayneshia knew already had many opportunities to develop his intellect and skills before he met her, which his reincarnation lacked. If he became as experienced as his former self, then he could probably find a way out of the predicament.

_But that's just an excuse. That's not why I'm letting them go on this journey._

Using that as a reason to allow Shiroe to go to Tsukuba would be treating not only Shiroe, but the entire Tea Party as a tool. Adventurers—_people_—couldn't be treated in that sort of disrespectful manner. _Adventurers are free_, Krusty had told her long ago. She had understood this, and pleaded with the Adventurers personally in order to save Eastal. To use such a weak excuse would be betraying herself and her long-gone friends. Denying the Tea Party from going to Tsukuba would be denying their freedom to learn about the Second Age of Myth.

There was that, and…

"We can't guarantee that the Travelers haven't been here all along, right?"

Kinjo remained silent, so Rayneshia continued. "If Empathiom is formed from the Adventurers' sacrificed memories, then nothing has changed. Adventurers are still immortal. What happens when they die? Wouldn't they still have to sacrifice memories to revive?"

The slight scowl on Kinjo's face betrayed his irritation at not having a counterargument. "Then why haven't they made a move while their biggest threats were gone?"

"I cannot answer that. But please, trust me, Kinjo! Letting them go to Tsukuba is for the better. Please pull back the raid bosses."

"You seem determined to place your faith in them."

"Kinjo, please!"

He lifted his hand. "This is the end of the discussion, Rayneshia. Of course, I'm well aware that an Ancient like yourself won't be stopped for long by this, but you're nowhere near Elias' or Coppelia's strength."

Uru of Ninth Prison rose up from behind Kinjo, screeching loudly before diving towards Rayneshia. She quickly deflected its initial attack with her rose petals, but most of them dissolved upon impact, and Uru circled around for another round. Although she could create more petals, or possibly bind it for a short while with Rose Thorn Bind, it would quickly turn into a battle of attrition that she was sure to lose. There weren't many choices she had left to her. It was too late for her to call for reinforcements, and most of the other Ancients were busy elsewhere.

As Uru approached ever closer to her, only one option remained. Rayneshia rose her arms just as Uru was about to reach her.

* * *

Inside Warabi Village, the performers were interrupted by a massive explosion. Isuzu spun around where she stood in the audience and saw a large cloud of dust mixed with pink dots swirling among it rise up not too far from the village. A quiet unease settled over the crowd before breaking out into a panic.

"MONSTERS!"

"How?! Everything was clear just moments ago!"

"RUN!"

"Take shelter in the buildings!"

"Get to the town center!"

A stampede formed almost immediately, and Isuzu felt her body being moved before she could even take a step. In this village, there were more Landers than Adventurers. Even if Adventurers were strong, having monsters so close to the village was bound to cause panic among the defenseless residents.

The mass of people surged in all different directions, battering and crushing the young girl. Even when she tried calling out to her friends, her voice was lost to the screaming and shouting. She caught glances of some of them, but when they tried to get close, another stream of bodies would block their way and push them apart again. Isuzu did her best not to fall, knowing that touching the ground spelled extreme pain, if not death, but it was hard with how skinny and frail she was.

Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, the ground shook and even more screams came from her left. A dark shadow cast over her, paralyzing her in fear. She shakily forced herself to gaze at the source of the shadow, only to find a huge, blue, humanoid monster towering over the crowd. Its massive club was slung casually over its shoulder, poised to strike down at any moment.

"A raid boss! It's a raid boss!"

"Run! RUN!"

The crowd pushed even harder now, and Isuzu lost her balance, falling to the hard ground. Thankfully, people miraculously avoided her head and torso, although her arms and hands felt like they would break into tiny fragments from all of the stomping and pressure. Was she screaming? Her throat said yes, but her ears said no. At this point, she couldn't even see straight; the people racing past her were just flashes of darkness, with a large darkness sometimes kicking her in the jaw or stomping right next to her ear, causing her to flinch. Slowly, the pain subsided as she was left behind from the stampede, but her arms were in too much pain for her to prop herself up.

Another member of her troupe, another Bard named Masuda, saw her laying on the ground. He rushed over to her side and propped her up by the arms so he could start dragging her to safety. Try as she might, though, she couldn't get any feeling into her legs. They weren't hit as badly as her arms, but they had no feeling anyways. _Is this… am I going to die? Here…? I was going to have my great debut tonight…_

"S…stop, Masuda… The monster… get away… run…"

"Isuzu! Hey! Are your legs okay?! Come on, we gotta run!"

"M-my legs won't move… I'm sorry, Masuda! Please, just go without me! I-I-I'll revive anyways!"

He shook his head frantically. "No way! Wasn't tonight supposed to be your debut?! Isuzu, let's go!"

A deafening roar bellowed out of the monster. Horrified, Isuzu could only stare with her eyes wide open as the club raised higher and higher, ready to crash down on them at any moment. All Masuda could do was hugged her closer to him, as if that would somehow protect them from being squashed into a bloodstain.

Another roar, and they knew in the hearts what was coming. Isuzu squeezed her eyes shut, praying that the sensation would be quick. She thought she heard some footsteps and shouting, but she couldn't tell if it was her imagination running wild or not. _Am I... hearing music? Am I hallucinating before I die…? Or am I already dead? Am I in heaven right now?_

"ISUZU!"

* * *

The moment that Uru and Rayneshia's clash produced a giant explosion, Kinjo knew something was wrong. Rayneshia wasn't capable of such strength, especially when she was using the majority of her power to suppress the monster she kept away from the world. He knew her magic well. He had been siphoning off a small part of the magic she released during their examinations for the past 500 years and trapping it in the gauntlet hidden under his right sleeve. It was tremendously powerful, capable of providing a kick-start to the magic circle under Akiba that would normally take ten years to power up again when turned off.

However, that monster was even stronger, so it took just about all she had to keep him sealed away. It wasn't so much its pure strength that made it so dangerous, but its adaptability. The person who had become the monster had been incredibly intelligent, and retained that quality upon transformation. With bloodlust beyond all compare, it melded into the battlefield and lost nearly all sense of identity. That's how Rayneshia had described it.

_So it could only stand that…_

Uru flew back, a large gash on one of its wings. A distorted noise that resembled a twisted laugh came from the dust that began to settle. A large, humanoid figure stood between Uru and the princess. It took a step closer, a dark liquid dripping off the monster's armor and onto the ground on which it stepped, creating a squelching sound. The bulky armor that was once a cerulean blue now oozed with black blood that perpetually dripped from all over it, as if it were infesting the armor. The large axe that the monster wielded in both hands glowed an ominous red. The blood from Uru's gash that had landed on the axe slowly disappeared, absorbed into the hunk of metal. Glasses that glowed a perpetual white hid its eyes, although the maddened smirk smeared across its face was all that was needed to identify the monster before him.

This was the Dark Soul Berserker, the remnant of the person once known as Krusty, D.D.D's guild master and Rayneshia's knight.


End file.
